


As the Stars Fall: Part I - Earth

by flitterflutterfly



Series: As the Stars Fall [1]
Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Mutants, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-18
Updated: 2013-02-18
Packaged: 2017-11-29 18:36:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/690158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flitterflutterfly/pseuds/flitterflutterfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The expedition to Atlantis fails and is recalled back to Earth just in time to discover the ramifications of their curiosity. Mutations start cropping up all over the world, beginning first as a mysterious sickness. The SGC soon learns there is more to Ascension then they’d first thought as a new species of human is quite suddenly created.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just so you know, almost none of the characters in this story are actually OCs. I gave them first names where they didn’t have them and pasts that the show never revealed, but they are all actually canon. I figured there are enough random characters from Atlantis that I didn’t need to create my own. I did give some of them the ATA gene that probably didn’t have it, but I tried not to give it to anyone who definitely didn’t have it. For example, neither Elizabeth nor Radek had success with the gene therapy and therefore they don’t mutate in this story. I did give it to Aiden, though, who didn’t. Oops, I guess I just like him too much.
> 
> I am very very bad at writing Carson’s accent, well really all accents in general. Forgive me.
> 
> Beta'd by Alma Heart.

Elizabeth Weir stood in front of the window she’d claimed as her own trying to hold back her tears. The ocean in front of her raged angry and she shivered. Where had it all gone so wrong? This had been her dream. To explore another galaxy, discover the lost city of Atlantis, it had been the change of a lifetime.

Sure, there had been some hesitation at first on whether or not the expedition would survive. But everyone knew that the SGC had a ship in construction to come get them if anything went too wrong.

It had started the minute they’d arrived. Soon as the gate had shut down, all the active gene carriers they’d brought, including their Chief Medical Officer, Carson Beckett, had fallen ill. Without Carson to guide them through the newness of the ancient infirmary and indeed without any ATA gene carriers to work the infirmary, none of the other doctors were able to figure out what was ailing the sickened.

What’s worse, they’d found Atlantis to be under water with only a single shield holding the ocean back. Dr. Rodney McKay had worked hard to strengthen the shield with the limited power they had. He’d eventually learned that there was a failsafe in the program designed to raise the city once the shield started failing. Almost immediately after they’d all breathed that sigh of relief, he too fell ill.

So, stuck under water in a city that wouldn’t respond to any of them with all of their gene carriers invalid, Elizabeth and Colonel Marshall Sumner had set up a primitive camp in the central tower and sent a very brief message back to Earth asking for evacuation (the power of which came to nearly deplete the ZPM, but not quite yet enough to raise the city) as soon as the spaceship was constructed.

Elizabeth chocked back a hysterical sob. She had dreamed so much about the lost city, only to find that it didn’t respond to her at all. No lights turned on, no doors opened. It was dead except for only the most basic of controls.

Elizabeth had wanted to explore the other planets of the galaxy, but Sumner had vetoed. They couldn’t risk letting any potential hostiles know of their position. They were practically sitting ducks and there was a strange warning hologram that spoke of an enemy that had forced the Ancients back to Earth 10,000 years ago.

This was it, Elizabeth thought. The  _Daedalus_  was scheduled to beam them all up any minute. Back to international diplomacy, to her failing relationship with her fiancée Simon Wallace, back to a semi-normal life. Back to Earth where she’d have to pretend she’d never gone to another galaxy.

Elizabeth felt a single tear drip down her cheek and she hiccuped.

“Goodbye, Atlantis,” she whispered.

And then, with a bright flash of light, she was gone.

-0o0oOo0o0-

All over Earth, individuals felt the gate to Atlantis open, though they had no idea what it was they were feeling. One by one, they wondered what that strange sense of longing was. One by one, they slowly grew sick.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Mike Dorsey stood in front of the disciplinary committee with a ramrod straight back. It was just another black mark on his record. He’d never rise to Lt. Colonel at this point, but he didn’t regret his actions in setting the bomb off. The bastards had tortured and raped his teammates, they’d deserved it. “I understand, sirs.”

Colonel Ellis frowned at him. “Dismissed, Major.”

Dorsey saluted sharply and did an about face. As he walked away, he could feel the headache that had been plaguing him come back.

Dorsey rubbed his temples, digging hard into his skin. Wincing, he pulled back, certain for a moment that he’d actually bruised himself. Glancing down, he rubbed his hands together, skin feeling suddenly dry.

Dorsey shook his himself and sighed. “I’m too goddamn tired for this shit.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

Andrew Markham sat up in his military hospital bed, breathing hard. He felt at his chest, wincing as he pulled at the IVs in his hand. Where? Where was he?

“What?” Markham murmured to himself.

He didn’t know. Someone was missing, someone he cared for. He thought he cared for. Someone important to him.

“Who?” he asked himself. He had no family, no good friends, and definitely no lovers. He was alone in the world.

In the next room over, Richard Stackhouse groaned and rolled over on his bed.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Xiao Hu Kiang clutched her head, muttering Chinese and English curse words as the pain forced her to her knees.

The unknown plant in front of her began to wilt. She looked up at it, blinking as its leaves turned bright red, then back to green.

“Shen me?” she asked. “The hell?”

-0o0oOo0o0-

Rodney McKay stared at the ceiling of the hospital. His mind was blank; for the first time in his life he was having trouble thinking. All he knew was that he was missing something.

It had to do with Atlantis, he knew. It had to.

Something was there, Rodney thought. Something had happened.

Rodney frowned, but before he could develop that idea further another blinding headache hit him and he curled up tightly, screaming as the nurses rushed in the room.

-0o0oOo0o0-

“I think I figured it out,” Daniel said as he barged into the meeting room.

“Dr. Jackson?” Hammond turned to him expectantly.

“Nice of you to be late, Daniel,” Jack O’Neill drawled, twirling a pen in his hand.

“What have you found out, Daniel?” Sam Carter asked, shooting a glare at Jack.

“I think I know why the gene carriers got sick,” Daniel proclaimed.

“You do?” Jack sat up straighter. He hadn’t wanted to consider his own constant headache and wooziness. The first couple of days, he’d ignored, but almost two weeks later and he was forced to accept that something was going on with his own gene.

“Tell us then,” Cameron Mitchell urged.

Daniel sat down. “I was looking at some of the records on ascension. See, we got it a bit wrong. The Ancients didn’t consider ascension the final step.”

“I fail to see how this is relevant,” Hammond frowned.

“Hold on,” Daniel said. “I’m getting to that. Anyways, the Ancients actually though of ascension more of as a purgatory.”

“Purgatory?” Sam looked incredulous. “You mean they willingly put themselves into their own purgatory?”

“Well,” Daniel winced. “Not quite like you might think. You see, ascension was meant to allow the spirit to reflect on the past life and learn from the mistakes they made before finally moving on. That’s why they have the no interference rule. Because they’re supposed to only focus on themselves.”

“That is very interesting, Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c said.

Daniel grinned at the Jaffa. “Isn’t it?”

“Okay, so what happens when they move on?” Cameron asked. “Do they, what, go to heaven?”

“No, no,” Daniel said. “Supposedly they send their more wise souls into the wombs of a pregnant woman to be born again.”

“So they believed in reincarnation?” Hammond asked.

“They didn’t just believe,” Daniel said, practically vibrating in his seat. “They scientifically created it.”

“I don’t see what’s so scientific about sending your soul into a baby,” Sam pointed out.

Daniel shrugged. “Well, they had some calculations but they destroyed most of their notes long ago because some of their kind was starting to abuse the power of ascension without any wish to be reborn.”

“This is very cool and all,” Jack said. “But let’s focus, the sick people?”

“Oh, right,” Daniel sent him a sheepish look. “I think that it’s possible that all the people with ATA gene actually have the souls of previous ascended Ancients. Actually, I think it is ascension itself that gives someone the gene.”

“Wait, so you’re saying the Ancients weren’t born with it?” Sam asked.

Daniel bit his lip. “I think that Ancients were biologically human until they started researching ascension. Overtime, all the babies began to have old souls. That’s why there is still some Ancient technology we can use without the gene, but a lot of the newer and more advanced stuff requires it.”

“Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c frowned. “You ascended.”

“I know,” Daniel said with a blush. “I, uh, actually I asked Janet to check. I have the dormant gene.”

“What?” Jack dropped his pen. “I thought you didn’t.”

“That’s just it,” Daniel told him. “We looked at my genetic records from before I ascended for the first time. I didn’t have it then.”

“That’s good evidence to validate your theory,” Sam mused. “So wait, you think that by going to Atlantis, because it’s the city of the Ancients, the gene carriers got sick. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Not quite,” Daniel explained. “We know that the Ancients had, uh, powers I guess you can say. Like some could heal or blow stuff up or teleport things. Those powers came when they were close to ascension, or that’s what we thought,” he paused. “I think actually those powers came  _because_  they ascended. The ATA gene gives them the powers.”

“What are you saying?” Hammond frowned.

“I think Atlantis woke up the dormant powers inside of the gene carriers,” Daniel said in a rush.

Jack’s headache worsened and he winced. “Shit.”

“Yeah,” Daniel nodded. “What’s more, I think that Atlantis sent out a sort of subspace wave signal across the gate when we opened it. That’s why the gene carriers at SGC are starting to get sick too.”

“Double shit,” Jack said.

“Is it just the SGC?” Sam asked. “A wave powerful enough to pass through the gate from another galaxy would have no trouble traveling across Earth.”

Hammond stood. “I need to go warn the President.”

“Are you beginning to feel ill, Daniel Jackson?” Teal’c asked.

Daniel slowly nodded. “A bit.”

Jack rubbed his head. “Me too.”

“Why didn’t you say, Jack?” Hammond stared at him.

“I didn’t really want to believe it, sir,” Jack said dryly.

“This could be really bad, sir,” Cameron said. “If Daniel’s right, than we’re going to have people all over the world who suddenly start getting magical powers. The public’s going to become hysterical.”

“I fully understand the implications,” Hammond assured him. “As much as it pains me, I agree with Jack.”

“Agree with me how, sir?” Jack looked up from his hands.

Hammond sighed. “We’re in deep shit.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

Miko Kusanagi bowed to her uncle. “I have heard my cousin is ill,” she said softly.

“What do you know of this,” her uncle glared at her. “You have been gone to America.”

“Please, sir, may I see him?” she pleaded.

Her aunt put a hand on her uncle’s arm and spoke quickly. “She is family.”

Her uncle snarled. “Fine. But be quick, else you will interrupt his healing.”

Then he stalked off, her aunt following closely behind.

Miko breathed out and crossed the house to her cousin’s room. She had snuck out of the SGC hospital after learning what might be wrong with her to escape back to Japan. Her cousin, Takeshi Yamato, was also a gene carrier. She’d wanted him to come to Atlantis with her, but he’d refused. Her uncle had not wished another of the family to work in what they thought was America.

It seemed Atlantis had come to Takeshi instead.

Miko opened the sliding paper door and quickly kneeled down besides her cousin. He lay in fitful sleep on his futon bed.

“Takeshi,” she whispered, shaking his lightly.

Takeshi woke with a start, eyes immediately finding hers. “Miko,” he breathed.

“Takeshi, I know why you are sick,” Miko said in a quiet voice, mindful that her uncle was still in the house. “I suffer, too, from your illness.”

“There is something different about you,” Takeshi muttered. “You seem, brighter, somehow.”

Miko frowned. Now that he mentioned it, there was something different about him too. He felt safe, for lack of a better word. She’d always loved her cousin who protected her from bullies that would make fun of her love of science, but she’d never felt him quite like she did now.

“I believe it is the illness,” she said. “It must be. We’re changing.”

Takeshi reached a hand out to clutch her own. “What must be we do, Miko?”

“You need to come with me,” she said. “To America. They can help us there.”

Takeshi closed his eyes, and then opened them again. “I go where you go, Cousin.”

“Arigato,” Miko smiled. “Aishiteru, Takeshi.”

Takeshi smiled back. “I love you too.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

Evan Lorne was thirsty. “Hello?” he called, but his throat was too dry for it be distinguishable.

His hospital bed scrapped against his heated skin and he coughed. “Water?” he tried to ask.

No nurse came into his room and he moaned at the pain in his mouth.

“Thirsty,” he mumbled.

Evan blinked. There was a glass of water on the table besides him. He frowned at it. Was it there before?

He shrugged, or at least tried to, and moved slowly over.

The glass was just out of reach. Evan strained, pushing his arm the extra inch to pick it up. His fingers curled around it, but instead of cool glass, they went straight through the cup. He stared, for a second not understanding.

Evan cried out. A nurse rushed in immediately upon the sound.

“You’re awake,” she said. “Are you okay, Major Lorne?”

“Water,” he said, gesturing to the now empty side table.

“Oh dear, I’ll get you a glass,” the nurse said, leaving the room quickly.

“Where’d the water go?” he asked the empty room.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Matak Jordan stood under the bright Sudanese sun. He was sweating hard, his body alternating cold and hot.

“Keep working,” the taskmaster yelled gruffly.

Jordan grunted, picking up another crate to life into the truck. He didn’t know what was in them, but they were heavy. They always were.

A shock of pain shot through him as Jordan bent to pick up the next crate. He stumbled, straightening only as the pain left.

“That one might need two of us,” his coworker warned as Jordan grasped the bottom of the next crate.

Jordan lifted, frowning as it easily came off the ground. “Nah, man, this is light.”

His coworker stared at him, slack-jawed, as he easily dropped the crate into the truck. It made a loud thumb as it landed, which seemed strange for its lesser weight.

Jordan shrugged and picked up the next crate.

-0o0oOo0o0-

“I hear you’re going to get special powers,” Radek Zelenka said as he sat in the open chair next to Rodney’s bed.

“Power, actually,” Rodney told him. “According to what Jackson found, we’ll each only get one power.”

“Just another thing for you to brag about,” Radek sighed.

“Yes, well,” Rodney frowned. “You wouldn’t be bragging if you had the headache I did.”

“I suppose,” Radek adjusted his glasses. “Hammond is trying to gather all of the affected from the world to one place.”

“He’s not going to find most of them until their powers start manifesting,” Rodney pointed out.

“That is what I said,” Radek nodded. “Rodney, people are not going to like these sudden super humans.”

“What are you saying?” Rodney looked from his beeping heart monitor to his colleague and, dare he say it, friend.

“Statistically, there are likely less than a thousand people in the world with the ATA gene,” Radek opened the laptop he held.

“That’s too few,” Rodney protested.

“No,” Radek shook his head. “It is too few if you think of the ATA as a hereditary gene. In ten thousand years there would be at least a million with it. But if we believe Dr. Jackson’s theory, then only having a couple hundred people with old souls does make sense.”

“More than that ascended, didn’t they?” Rodney scratched his head. “Wait, no, the ascended come in cycles. And since there have been none in the ten thousand years since the Ancients all died off, it would only be the leftovers of the very last group that are now in us.”

“Yes, exactly,” Radek nodded. “If we calculate based on the suspected final population of the Ancients before they all collectively ascended or died off, then make a hypothesis on the number of reincarnations every generation…”

“476,” Rodney said.

“What?” Radek looked up, startled.

“There are 476. We are the last of the ascended; they all must have come together and decided collectively. We’re all in the same generation. I looked at the news, there hasn’t been a single reported case of a child or senior coming down with this strange ‘epidemic’,” Rodney said.

“How did you come up with that number?” Radek asked suspiciously.

“I calculated it,” Rodney said. “I…” he racked his brain, but for the life of him he couldn’t put the words to the numbers in his head. Grabbing Radek’s laptop, he quickly typed out his proof instead. Radek would be able to follow the numbers.

“Rodney,” Radek said in a whisper as he stared at the screen. “That is, that’s not,” he stopped, gaping.

“What?” Rodney looked at his math. “That’s how I got 476.”

Radek closed his laptop. “I think I know what your power is.”

“What, how can you know that?” Rodney jumped.

“I do not understand your proof, Rodney,” Radek told him softly. “It is above me.”

“Above you?” Rodney blinked. “But you’re the third best physicist in the world, next to me and Dr. Carter, of course. You always get my math.”

“I do not think even Dr. Carter would see the leaps in your logic,” Radek told him.

Rodney paled, suddenly understanding. “Smartest man in the galaxy,” Rodney muttered. “Mon dieu, no one will be able to understand my work.”

“The power of the genius,” Radek said. “A curse as much as it is a gift.”

“I’ll never be able to win the Nobel Prize,” Rodney whimpered. All of the sudden the fog that had been over his mind lifted. “I see it, Radek, I can break the laws of physics, bend subspace, rip a hole in the fabric of the universe. It’s all here,” he tapped his head.

Radek clasped his arm. “Do not over exaggerate, Rodney. I am sure you can dumb yourself down, yes?”

Rodney took a deep breath. “Of course, I’ll have to won’t I?”

“That’s the spirit,” Radek said with a quirk of a smile. “But maybe now you can put that big brain to work.”

Rodney raised an eyebrow. “Come on, I’m having a mental breakdown here.”

“You need to help the others who are suffering,” Radek said seriously. “I know what governments do to things they don’t understand.”

Rodney’s head whipped up. “When their powers manifest,” he whispered. “They’ll need a safe place to go. I bet they’ll need to learn control before they can integrate back into daily life.”

“If they ever do,” Radek bowed his head. “You are right, Rodney, I would not be bragging. I never thought to be glad that I didn’t even have the dormant gene.”

Rodney ignored him. “I have a house,” he said. “A large one. More of a complex, really.”

“Is it listed under your name?” Radek asked.

“No, no,” Rodney shook his head. “After I worked with the CIA, I built it for myself, just in case. It was a failsafe if I ever needed to get away. I thought I could bring my family there. That was when I was 17, you know, and I still thought I would have a family one day.”

“That might work,” Radek nodded. “I will inform General O’Neill.”

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best,” Rodney muttered. “But only O’Neill.”

Radek stood. “I understand.”

Rodney clutched at his bedsheet. “We’ll get through this,” he told himself.

His new genius brain gave him the probabilities of revolts, executions, and banishments. The odds weren’t looking good.

“Shut up,” he told himself. “You don’t know that.”

Oh, but you do, his brain whispered to him.

Rodney scowled.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Laura Cadman wrestled her arm away from the drunken marine. “Get away, bastard.”

“Ah, Laura, babe,” the marine laughed. “You know you love me.”

“No, I don’t,” she snapped. “I’m warning you, Jonny.”

The marine laughed again and made a grab from her boobs.

Laura punched him in the face. He groaned, clutching his nose. “I warned you,” she said as she walked around him to the door. She should have never agreed to meet her ex-boyfriend. The man was nothing but trouble.

A scrape was all the warning she got before she turned and saw him picking up the side table in the enlisted men’s dorm. He lifted it over his head, an angry gleam in his eyes.

Shit, she thought, taking a step back. Her constant headache bloomed hard against her temple.

“Fuck,” Jonny shouted as he suddenly let go of the table.

The table bubbled, both of the staring at it in surprise. And then, all of the sudden, it exploded at his feet, knocking Jonny backwards.

Laura reeled back, coughing into the sudden smoke, before her eyes rolled into her head and she passed out cold.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Jack looked around the complex. Rodney stood next to him and on the other side Daniel bounced on his toes.

“It’ll do,” Jack nodded.

“It’s perfect,” Daniel said instead.

“Hammond doesn’t know where you are, right?” Rodney asked.

“Relax, McKay,” Jack said. “He knows I’m looking into a place to bring us new Ancients but he doesn’t know where it is.”

“Good,” Rodney sighed. “There was an earthquake in Houston yesterday.”

“You think?” Daniel asked hesitantly.

“There is an 83% likelihood,” Rodney told him.

“The news has taken to calling us mutants,” Daniel crossed his arms. “Kind of X-men if you ask me.”

“Much less liked than the X-men,” Rodney pointed out. “Russia and India have both started manhunts. Or, mutanthunts I suppose.”

“Okay,” Jack sighed. “We can’t risk bringing in any outsiders. Everyone will have to rotate chores and the like, with cooking and cleaning.”

“Maybe we’ll be lucky and one of us will be a five star chef,” Daniel grinned.

Jack snorted. “I’ll start rounding up those of us at Stargate Command and send out an email to the ones that asked to go home. McKay, can you get a hold of Beckett. You’re friends, right?”

“I’ll talk to Carson,” Rodney agreed.

“Great,” Daniel clapped his hands. Jack winced. “Sorry, still have the headaches?”

“Mine went away once my power came online,” Rodney said with a frown.

“Yeah, well I don’t know my new weird-ass trait yet, so I still got these damn migraines,” Jack said.

Daniel touched his arm and Jack pulled away. He’d been feeling a pull towards the anthropologist for a while, but ever since his stupid gene started doing its funky thing, the pull had gotten stronger. Jack wasn’t sure if he could control himself anymore.

“I’ll go see if I can find out more about ascension,” Daniel said with just a hint of worry in his tone as he looked at Jack.

Rodney looked once more around the complex. “Well, I guess this is home for a while.”

His newly cognizant brain sang to Rodney that he had a different home waiting out there. Atlantis was his home.

He ignored his brain.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Carson Beckett clasped his mother’s fragile hand. “I donnae wanna go, Momma,” he said.

“I know, dear,” his mother rasped. “But you need ta.”

“Who’ll care fer you?” he asked. “I donnae trust anyone at this damn hospice.”

“I’m dying, Carson,” his mother said. “You know it, I know it. You’re young still. You shouldn’ have ta care for me for the resta my life. You can’t.”

“Momma,” Carson whispered.

“You’re one na them,” his mother’s eyes were clear blue as she looked at him. “You’re changin’. You needta go before you cannot.”

Carson stiffened, then nodded. His mother was right as always. “They need me,” he told her.

“Go, Carson,” his mother said. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Momma,” he chocked back his sob and kissed her cheek. “More than you know.”

His mother smiled and closed her eyes.

Carson left without another word.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Frank Kersey heard the fire sirens before he actually saw the fire. It was a single small building on the side of the road. He was on the opposite side, on his morning jog. He remembered the building; it had been a local food mart.

And now it was on fire.

Kersey watched the flames lick the roof as the firemen frantically tried to salvage whatever was left of the building.

“Give up,” he muttered to himself. “It’s gone.”

As if responding to his words, the flames jumped higher, forcing the men to retreat slightly against the heat.

Kersey watched for a moment longer as the fire grew bigger and bigger, completely engulfing the building.

Shaking himself out of his daze, he turned and continued jogging.

Behind him, the fire died down.

-0o0oOo0o0-

“ETA 15 minutes, sir,” Sheppard said into the mike as he carefully maneuvered the helicopter over the glaciers ice and snow below them.

Jack nodded, giving the pilot a thumb up. He was heading to the Ancient outpost on Antarctica to collect Daniel and bring him back to Rodney’s safe complex. The public outcry against the newly mutated was growing everyday and even the slightly more tolerant members of the SGC were becoming uncomfortable around the sudden Ancients.

Jack didn’t like thinking of himself as an Ancient. As any of them as Ancients. They weren’t gaining any memories of past lives or bullshit like that. It was just the damn powers. And the weird six sense thing that they all got when around each other.

Jack turned an eye back to the pilot. Major John Sheppard, he mused. He’d felt the man’s power the minute he’d met him, but he wasn’t sure how to bring it up. The major wasn’t cleared for the SGC, but he was strong. Jack could feel that in the very depths of his bones.

It was a strange sort of hierarchy, he thought. The men below him that had mutated still respected him, but it was a different sort of respect now. And it wasn’t just him. Lieutenant Rivers had saluted a marine private the other day before realizing what he’d done. Jack understood. He could tell the private was more powerful than Rivers, and Rivers could too.

Sheppard though, he was possibly even more powerful than Jack. No, Jack frowned. Not that. They were equal, he thought. But different. Like how he felt with McKay.

Different types of powers, he realized. McKay was the most powerful scientist, even Daniel respected him now without conscious thought. Some of Jack’s men looked at him like he were a god, but not most. No, most of them listened to him in the same way he would listen to Carter about how to fix a broken rifle. As if, even they knew they were better at whatever it was he was telling them to do, but they respected him enough to hear him explain his instructions anyways.

“Fuck,” Jack muttered.

“What was that, sir?” Sheppard asked.

Jack paused, then made up his mind quickly. “Land somewhere, Major, I have to talk to you before we get there.”

Sheppard frowned at him. Jack thought for a moment he wasn’t going to obey, but finally he pointed the helicopter down to land on a flat spot of ice.

There it was, Jack thought. Respect, but not for being a commanding officer. Hesitation until he decided that the orders weren’t too bad to follow.

Sheppard landed the helicopter smoothly and turned it off. Jack lifted his headset away and waited for the major to do the same.

“Sir?” Sheppard asked with dark eyes.

“Have you been getting headaches recently, Major?” Jack asked, leaning back in his seat.

Sheppard’s eyes widened and Jack grinned. “I know what’s wrong with you,” he continued. “But first I have to ask, you cause any destruction lately?”

Sheppard stiffened. “Sir?”

Jack sighed. “I’m gonna tell you a story. It started quite a number of years ago in Egypt.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

John Sheppard looked around the complex he’d been taken to. It was certainly nicer than some of the bases he’d stayed at in the past.

“Sir?”

John looked at the marine who’d spoken. A part of him was confused by the attention he was receiving, but another part understood. It had taken him nearly three weeks to accept what O’Neill had told him, but here he was.

Speak of the devil; the Air Force officer was walking up to him with four people hot at his heels. John waved away the marine and turned his attention to the approaching group.

“Finally decided to show up, huh Sheppard?” O’Neill grinned at him.

“Didn’t want you to have all the fun,” John shot back. “Sir,” he added belatedly. That same part of him, the one that seemed to understand the admiration in the eyes of many of the men in the large courtyard, was saying that he didn’t need to salute O’Neill.

O’Neill chuckled. “No need for the sir, Sheppard. I have a feeling that rank isn’t going to make a difference to anyone here.”

John glanced around once more. At his look, several of the men who had stopped to watch the little procession turned back to what he supposed were their duties.

“Goddamn powers give us a damn hierarchy, too,” one of the men behind O’Neill muttered.

“Well, then,” John said as he turned to the general. “I think you should call me John.”

“John,” O’Neill nodded. “And I’m Jack,” he held out his hand as if it were their first time meeting.

John shook it. “Jack,” he agreed.

O’Neill, or Jack rather, turned to gesture to the men behind him. “Well, John, I suppose I’d better introduce the rest of our lovely little chief council.” He pointed first to the man who’d spoken earlier. “Dr. Rodney McKay, head of most of the sciencey mutants here, or rather the ones who can construct things I suppose. Next to him is Dr. Daniel Jackson, his second in command, we think.”

Jackson snorted. “Rodney just hoists off all of the soft sciences on me.”

Jack glared at him. “Then there’s Carson Beckett, our head medical doctor.”

The doctor gave John a little wave.

“And last,” Jack said, “is Major Evan Lorne.”

John glanced at the other major and he knew immediately who the man was. “My second, I suppose?” he drawled.

Jack sighed. “Seems that way.”

John looked once at Jack, and then his eyes gravitated towards the scientist, McKay. Blue, he thought as they locked eyes.

McKay turned away first, blushing just a bit, and John forced himself to turn his attention back to Jack.

“I just have one question,” John said. “What happens now?”

Jack and Daniel exchanged a glance. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Jack said. “Maybe you can help.”

John nodded and followed behind as Jack led the way inside the main building of the complex.

Aliens, he thought. As if being a mutant wasn’t enough. Just fucking great.


	2. Chapter 2

“In other news, the new breed of mutant humans that have plagued the world these past months are slowly disappearing. Where are they going, we wonder? To regroup and plan a new attack on humanity? Maybe they’ve decided to cut their losses and hide. Frankly folks, we don’t know,” the reporter paused and his smile dropped.

There was some whispering and piece of paper made it’s way into the reporter’s hand. Quickly he turned back to the camera. “This just in, it seems that one of the mutants has flooded New Orleans. That’s right, you heard me. New Orleans is taking water fast. A mandatory evacuation is underway.”

The reporter bowed his head for just a moment. When he looked up, his eyes were steely. “Wherever these monsters are, they’d better stay there. The world won’t stand for any more attacks.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

Jack turned off the T.V. with a click of the remote. The lack of control, he thought. It was so hard, the first couple of days. So hard to stop yourself from testing your power.

Daniel’s head was in his hands. Rodney was cursing under his breath. John stared at the far wall, practically vibrating with fury.

“How many of us are there left out there?” Evan asked. “We’re already refuging nearly 200.”

“Not counting those already executed?” Daniel asked, raising his head.

“And those who’ve killed themselves,” John hissed. “Instead of facing the hatred.”

“There are likely 115 more in hiding,” Rodney said. “And 67 imprisoned in one way or another beyond that.”

“Makes me kind of regret saving the world so many times,” Jack groaned.

Evan nodded sadly. “We live in a world of bigots.”

The door to the meeting room opened and Carson walked in. He sat down in one of the empty seats, his smile a stark contrast to their frowns. He’d been researching their genes, taking a blood sample from everyone who sought a place at Rodney’s complex.

“Tell me you have good news,” Jack said.

Carson nearly bounced. “Oh, yea,” he said. “I’ve isolated some DNA strands on the ATA gene.”

“Oh?” John turned from the wall.

Evan glanced at him. “What have you found, doc?”

“Several things,” Carson said. “First, there’re specific sequences dependin’ on the different types of powers.”

“Four different,” Rodney said. “Right?”

Carson nodded. “Yes, exactly Rodney. There’s the healing, only ’bout fifteen of us so far in total. We’re the rarest. Then the, well I suppose you can call it constructive powers. Most of the scientists and other civilians. That’s anything from Mallozzi’s super eidetic memory to Dr. Jackson’s culture sense.”

“Culture sense?” Rodney snorted. “Is that what you’re calling it.”

“What would you call it, Rodney?” Daniel rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know,” Rodney threw up a hand. “Anthropological genius.”

“What, so you’re the super genius and I’m just the anthropological genius?” Daniel raised an eyebrow. “I touch a piece of rubble from Egypt and I see a serf building the Pyramids. That’s hardly genius in the purest sense of the word.”

“He has a point,” Jack said before Rodney could argue further. “Doctor Beckett?”

“Yes, well,” Carson cleared his throat. “Then, there’s the protection powers. Like Kiang’s poison sensing. They’re almost as small as healing.”

“And the destructive powers are last, right?” John said in a low voice.

Carson winced. “Yes. Only slightly less than the constructive percentage wise.”

“Okay,” Jack said. “So this hierarchy thing we have going on, it’s power-type based, yeah? I mean, so all those destructive mutant, err Ancients, they don’t have to listen to me cause I’m not a destruto dude?”

John snorted.

“Ah, no,” Carson said. “I mean, that tis why we’re the head council here, I do believe.”

“Okay,” Jack started nodding, but then he stopped himself. “So why do Sheppard and McKay get seconds and you and I don’t?”

“I thought we were onto first names,” John sighed.

“Sorry,” Jack shot him a quick, somewhat lazy, grin. “John and Rodney.”

“Size of the group,” Daniel said. “Construction and destruction are just that much bigger. You protective dudes,” he imitated Jack’s earlier tone, “just aren’t big enough to need a second.”

Evan raised his coke in Daniel’s direction. “I second that.”

“Nice,” John sniggered.

“Oh, real mature,” Rodney rotated his shoulders back and stared at Carson. “So, that was the first thing, right. And the second?”

“Ah,” Carson looked around, suddenly nervous. “That is, um, not as clear yet, but we have enough to hypothesize.”

“Spit it out, Carson,” John sighed.

Carson winced. “Aye, well, I was looking at Stackhouse and Markham and I compared their genes to Hewston and Watson. Both of the couples have, uh, gotten together since their metamorphosis.”

“Are you saying their genes made them fuck?” Jack sat back in his chair, frowning. He glanced at Daniel, then back at the doctor.

“Kinda,” Carson tapped the table. “With Stackhouse and Markham, they literally cannot function without each other. Their body chemistries have aligned and seem to fluxuate together. But with Hewston and Watson, it’s more of a compatibility thing. They’re highly attracted to one another.”

“I don’t get it,” Evan admitted.

“It’s like this,” Carson said. “Our powers have given us the ability to sense others of our kind. It’s written in the ATA gene. We all immediately feel when another Ancient has entered the room and can sense their type of power and place in that power’s hierarchy, if we try. That same sense can also help us sense those compatible with us romantically.”

“But it’s not a required thing, right?” Daniel frowned. “I mean, what if someone never finds their compatible other?”

“Everyone is compatible with more than one other,” Carson explained. “That’s human nature, even ancient human. But the ATA gene seems to want to help to find the most compatible.”

“This sounds an awful lot like soulmates,” Rodney said suspiciously.

Carson winced. “I cannot say it isn’t.”

Jack stoutly refused to look Daniel in the eye. In doing so, he realized that John was doing the exact same thing to Rodney.

Well wouldn’t that be ironic, he thought.

“Can you tell from the blood samples?” Evan asked.

“I can,” Carson nodded. “But, I donnae think that’s something to share. It should be the choice of the people in question.”

“Agreed,” Daniel nodded. “But we should announce what’s going on so that no one’s freaked out if they do feel a pull towards someone they don’t think they would find attractive usually.”

Carson looked from Jack to Daniel and John to Rodney with a sad little smile on his face. He and Evan exchanged a somewhat knowing glance.

“I’ll do that at tomorrow’s announcements,” Evan said, taking pity on the others. “Moving on, how do we rescue the Ancients that Moscow’s holding hostage?”

“Right, back to work,” Jack sighed.

John grimaced.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Archimedes Edelio ducked behind the dumpster, heart pounding. He heard the rush of footsteps pass him, but he didn’t dare feel relieved yet. Not until he was out of this country, on his way to what he hoped was the freedom of others like him.

Greece used to be a safe haven for him. As a mathematician, he’d traveled often to conferences all over the world, but Greece had been his home.

No longer, not when those he thought were friends hunted him down as though he were a rabid dog. He may be mutant, as they called it, but his skin was not green, he’d hurt no one. He could write things in the air, big whoop.

Archimedes slowly looked around the dumpster. The coast was clear.

Slowly, he crept back to the street, trying to keep his face covered as he walked towards the docks. He’d stowaway on a ship headed for the Americas and find his way from there. He could feel the call of his kind, but he wouldn’t be able to tell exactly where until he was closer. At least, he hoped he’d be able to tell once he’d gotten to the other continent.

But he would make it, he was determined. This would not beat him. He thought of Angela, strung up on the burning pyre like a witch. She hadn’t even been a mutant, and yet they burned her because she refused to give away his location.

“I won’t let your sacrifice go to waste,” Archimedes promised. “I won’t.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

Markham heard the door to his room open. He wondered why they still tried to keep up the appearance of living separately. The room was dark, but he heard distinctly the slap of dog tags against bare skin.

Oh yeah, that was why. Markham sighed.

“Hey,” Stackhouse slipped into the bed with him and Markham scooted over to give him space.

“Hey yourself,” Markham whispered.

Stackhouse leaned down and Markham accepted the kiss a bit greedily. The connection between them flared and they both felt the shock go through their bodies. He could harness that power, he knew, but he didn’t. Not now, not when it was just them.

“Andy,” Stackhouse groaned into his lips. “Why do you affect me like this?”

“Why does Rivers freeze things?” Markham asked back, one hand trailing down to grasp his lovers cock.

Stackhouse huffed and pushed against Markham, forcing him fully on his back. “Too tired to fuck you.”

“I know,” Markham said. “Me too.”

Stackhouse kissed his lips once more, then trailed kisses down his cheek to his neck, past his erect nipples, to his bellybutton, and then down his thigh.

“Rick!” Markham gasped. “Don’t tease.”

“I’ve got you, babe,” Stackhouse murmured. In one deft move, he took Markham in his mouth.

Markham arched against the moist heat. “Not gonna last long,” he panted. “Went all day without seeing you.”

Stackhouse pulled back with a pop. “We can’t do that again,” he agreed. “Don’t worry, just give it all to me.”

Markham let himself go as Stackhouse began sucking him needy-like. “God,” he gripped at his lover’s hair. “I’m coming.” And he did with a gasp.

Stackhouse licked him up. Markham could feel the smug smile as the man moved to settle back on top of him.

“Let me do you, too,” Markham murmured, already sleepy.

“Already done, babe,” Stackhouse chuckled. “You know that.”

“Right,” Markham yawned. They always came together, even when they tried actively not to. Just another quirk of their mutation into Ancienthood.

“Sleep,” Stackhouse told him.

“Kay,” Markham nodded and curled up under his lover’s solid weight. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Andy,” Stackhouse breathed into his hair.

Markham let the sound of his heartbeat lull him to sleep.

-0o0oOo0o0-

“Soulmates?” Laura Cadman leaned against the doorway of Carson’s makeshift office and raised an eyebrow.

Carson put down his medical papers and rubbed his eyes. “I told him not to use that word,” he muttered.

Laura stared at him. “You need to sleep. How long have you been up?”

Carson glanced at his watch. “Twenty hours,” he groaned and stood.

Laura let him pass her, watching to make sure he could get back to his room without a problem.

Carson stopped a couple feet down the hall and turned back. “Was there something you wanted, lass?”

Laura hesitated, and then decidedly shook her head. “Later,” she said.

Carson paused, studying her briefly, before nodding and heading back away from her towards the main hall and his small room.

Laura watched him go, feeling the pull to follow. “Soulmates,” she said again once he was out of earshot. “You must be fucking joking.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

Jennifer Keller put away her doctor’s coat with shaking hands. She took a deep breath to steady herself, making sure what she called her ‘game face’ was on before she turned back to face her colleagues.

“I’ll see you on Monday, then,” she said, glad her voice was steady. She had never been good at lying.

One of the other doctors waved a flippant hand. Jennifer smiled a small show of lips and left quickly.

It only took her a minute to get to her car. Hidden in the trunk and under the backseat was a suitcase full of her favorite clothes, a small med kit she’d stolen from the hospital, and a box of things she couldn’t leave because of their sentimental value.

Of course, Jennifer knew that if she really needed to, she could abandon everything in her car and just run, but she was hoping that it wouldn’t have to come to that.

“Canada,” she murmured as she merged onto the main highway. “Why Canada?”

Shaking her head, she concentrated back on the road. She’d been lucky, her mutation didn’t seem to come with anything at first though she had known what the signs of her own previous illness had been. Then she’d completely cured one of her patients of his cancer and she’d figured it out.

She’d deflected the questions by calling it a miracle. There were a number of miracles in the cancer world. But she knew that man would never have to worry about his coming back. She’d destroyed all the cancerous cells with just a touch to his arm.

That was two weeks ago. Two weeks of pretending and trying to act normal, like nothing had happened. She’d been sick with the flu, she’d said when she got back to work. Most believed her, but not all. It was the one or two suspicious looks that told her she couldn’t stay.

She felt the pull towards Canada. That’s where all of her kind were going, or so she pieced together from the frankly insulting news reports, the mysterious disappearances of people she was used to seeing everyday, and the pull she felt constantly.

“Canada, here I come,” she said and pushed the gas just a bit harder.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Joseph Mallozzi flipped another page in his book. He’d never been able to read so fast before, but with his new and improved photographic memory it was easy. In the time it took to physically turn to the next page, he was already cataloguing and storing whatever had been on the previous one.

To be honest, it was kind of cool. He’d gone through his bookstore’s entire manga and comic book section in under three hours when he’d first transformed. Then some self-proclaimed vigilantes had come knocking on his door and he’d been forced to flee. But hey, this super secret complex in the wilds of Canada almost made up for the fact his manga collection had probably been burned by the jerks who’d tried to kill him.

Mallozzi flipped another page. And another.

He thought briefly about the announcement they’d made a couple of days ago. Soulmates and understood hierarchies and running from angry mobs. It was kind of like an anime. He felt like Naruto, disliked by the entire ninja village only to find a close group of friends in the Rookie 14. Just an adventure, he told himself. I’m going to the Grandline.

Then again, even Luffy had a couple love interests here and there, regardless of the fact he never took any of them up on their offers. Mallozzi, though, for him there was no one.

“What’s the good of soulmates if you don’t got one?” he pouted, setting down his book.

As if the world had responded to his plea, the door to his room opened and in stepped the most beautiful Japanese woman he’d ever seen.

Mallozzi gaped. Hot damn, he thought.

The woman blushed. “Oh, I am so sorry, I thought this was my cousin’s room.”

Mallozzi shook his head, speechless. The woman made to leave, muttering apologies.

“Wait!” Mallozzi called before she could shut the door. “What’s your name?”

She turned to her, blush prominent on her cheeks, even behind her glasses. “Miko Kusanagai.”

“Hello Miko,” he breathed. “I’m Joseph Mallozzi.”

Miko smiled shyly.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Dusty Mehra pushed her legs to go faster. They were still close behind her, she could hear their angry yells. “Give up already,” she spat. She’d already been running for hours, she knew, but she wasn’t tired yet. She didn’t get tired anymore.

There were less of them following. She made a sharp turn onto a busy street. If only she could lose them, then she would be able to get to where she needed to go. Oh, well she didn’t quite know where that place was yet, but it was somewhere on this continent she was pretty sure.

“Goddamn bastards,” she hissed as they tried to cut her off with a car. She jumped on its hood and kept running. “You’ll never catch me.”

With a smirk, she weaved through the stopped traffic and disappeared down another street.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Aiden Ford felt the wall on his back and he hissed. “Shit,” he muttered.

Three men surrounded him. The one in the middle was beating his hand with his fist. It was all very much like a bad movie, but though Aiden was a trained killer, he was also one against three.

“Look, guys,” he said, raising his arms up. “I was just visiting my grandma in the hospital. I don’t want any trouble.”

“We know what you are, Mutant,” the one on the left said. “You’re not getting away from us.”

Aiden scowled. This is what he got for caring about the woman who’d practically raised him? Sheppard had warned him when he’d gone to leave the complex, but Aiden had needed to see if his grandma was okay.

And now these three lugs were stopping him. How did they even know? His face hadn’t been on any of the news reports, unlike McKay and Jackson and countless other runaways from various countries around the world.

Aiden’s eyes gravitated towards the third thug and he blinked. The small man was looking at the ground, his hands clenched. Aiden could feel the power on him, a sort of subtly light thing. Healing, he thought.

He’s being forced to do this, Aiden realized. He doesn’t have a choice.

Aiden’s fury rose as he turned to the other two. How dare they use one of his own kind to seek the rest of them out? How dare they… Aiden’s breath caught in his throat as he recognized the pull he now felt in his whole body.

What? But he wasn’t gay.

The little healer looked up, eyes red with unshed tears. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

Thug #1 turned to the healer, scowling. “Shut up,” he growled. “Or I’ll break your hand this time.” With a push, the healer went flailing to hit the wall of alley and crumble in a shaking ball.

Aiden saw black, briefly, and when his vision cleared he was looking at himself.

His double looked back at him, everything about him a carbon copy except his eyes. His eyes held no white. They were black bottomless holes.

I was wondering what my power was, Aiden thought briefly. A startled shout from his would-be captors turned both him and his double back to the thugs. Aiden’s eyes traveled once over the shocked form of his possible soulmate and he turned enraged to the thugs.

And then his double and him were moving in sync. The stupid bullies would never hurt another of their kind again, he told himself as he heard the satisfying sound of bone breaking under his hand.

The thugs were screaming, but they’d hurt his mate and Aiden would not let them get away. They deserved this, he thought savagely as he and his dobbleganger continued to systematically destroy the two men.

“Stop, stop, please stop.” There was a hand on his arm and Aiden turned, ready to take care of the intruder.

The little healer looked at him with wide brown eyes and Aiden’s arm fell to his side.

“Don’t kill them, please,” the healer begged. “They won’t hurt anyone else, you saved us. But please, don’t kill them.”

Aiden looked at the mess of the two men on the alley ground and then stepped back. His double glanced at them both, giving him a smile and a nod before disappearing.

Aiden sighed and faced the healer fully. “Are you okay?”

The healer nodded. “I am now.”

Aiden gave him a brief smile. “My name’s Aiden, Aiden Ford.”

“Sam Corrigan,” the healer said.

Aiden hesitated, and then gave into his growing urge and wrapped his arms around the healer. “Sammie, huh?” he asked with a light voice.

“Whatever you want,” the healer, Sammie, said in a soft whisper.

“How did you stop them from doing away with you?” Aiden asked, curious, though he regretted the question a moment later as his killing rage came back.

Sammie bowed his head, resting it against Aiden’s chest. “I’m an anthropologist, so I guess I just knew what to say.”

Aiden lifted his head back up with one hand. “Bullshit.”

Sammie sighed. “I don’t know; I just tried to sooth their anger. It wasn’t enough in the long run, but they decided to keep me instead of killing me.”

Aiden’s arms tightened. “Come with me. There’s a safe place we can go. All of us are there, we’ll protect you. I’ll protect you.”

Sammie smiled brightly. “Okay.”

Aiden’s shoulders relaxed and he matched the smile. “Great.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

“It’s getting worse,” Rodney said into the phone.

“Much,” Radek agreed from the other end. “You must make plans, Rodney. What will you do if they find your location?”

“I don’t know,” Rodney admitted slowly. “We’d probably be able to hold them off for a while, but not forever.”

There was silence for a minute. “I have sent two more in your direction,” Radek said. “But I must be careful, they are beginning to suspect me.”

“Don’t get yourself in trouble,” Rodney said immediately. “This isn’t your fight.”

“Bullshit,” Radek snapped. “You are my friend; you are all my friends. I will help you even if it’s the last thing I do.”

Rodney looked at the phone stunned. Hesitantly, he put it back to his ear. “Thank you, Radek.”

“Yes, well,” Radek softened. “You need to talk to your ‘head council’,” Rodney could practically hear the air quotes, “and make a contingency plan, yes?”

“I’ll do that,” Rodney said. “Good luck, Radek.”

“You too, Rodney, you too.” With a click, Radek hung up.

Rodney set down the phone and pressed a hand to his forehead. His brain was working, calculating, planning. There weren’t many options left for them.

“We can’t stay here,” he said into the empty room. “We’re sitting ducks.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

Chuck stood at doorway of his new room. “Thank you,” he said sincerely.

The man who’d shown him there nodded. Dark power, Chuck’s mind told him, strong, a fighter.

“The main dining hall is in the center building,” the man said. “Breakfast is served at eight, lunch in between noon and two, dinner at seven.”

“Okay,” Chuck said.

The man smiled wryly. “You can get supplies from the docs in the med wing, if you didn’t bring any with you. Sign up for chores outside the dining hall, we all need to contribute here. And mister,” the man paused, “try to get some sleep.”

Chuck chuckled. “I’ve been running for a while,” he admitted.

“You look it,” the man chuckled back. “You can ask anyone if you have questions. There’ll be an all call at six thirty for wakeup, but we’ve got no real rules except that you can never tell anyone where this place is.”

“Don’t worry,” Chuck said. “I don’t have anyone to tell.”

The man sighed. “Night, mister.”

“Chuck,” he called. “Call me Chuck.”

The man smiled. “Name’s Mike Dorsey. Nice to meet you, Chuck.”

“You too,” Chuck said. “Night, Mike.”

Mike snorted and waved him to the bed.

Chuck went to sleep with a relieved smile on his face.

-0o0oOo0o0-

“What do you mean, sir?” Jack frowned.

Hammond rubbed his temples. “The President gave me the order, Jack. I need to know where that safe house is.”

“Sir, there are lives at stake here, I can’t just give it to you!” Jack protested.

Hammond grimaced. “Jack, none of us really knew what was happening at first. But you’re not human anymore, none of you are. You’ve become Ancients in the purest sense of the word. Hell, I read Dr. McKay’s recent proof, he even does math like the Ancients.”

“I may be an Ancient,” Jack snapped. “But I was human for 50 years first.”

“I know,” Hammond gave him a sad look. “But, Jack, the people are scared. There’s not enough of you in the world.”

“What? How would having more of us matter?” Jack shook his head.

“It matters,” Hammond told him, “because people can’t relate to you. They’re not related, they’re not your friends, they’ve never met you. Four hundred mutants isn’t enough to make people accept, but it’s enough to make people uncomfortable.”

“Don’t,” Jack growled, “call us mutants.”

Hammond sighed. “Jack, the way the President sees it, hell the way all the world leaders see it, is the loss of 400 lives versus the potential uproar and subsequent loss of millions.”

“You want me to tell you where we are so you can, what, bomb us out of existence?” Jack was frankly stunned. “You think I would give you that?”

“My hands are tied,” Hammond said apologetically. “I can keep you and Dr. Jackson safe. Dr. McKay too. You’re all vital to our homeworld security, I told the President that. But you’d have to stay here, in the mountain.”

“No,” Jack glared. “There has to be another way.”

“Jack, don’t make me force you,” Hammond said warningly.

“George,” Jack pleaded. “Do you know what I am? I am the goddamn fucking head of the protection. That’s my power, my place. That means I have a damn biological need to protect every single fucking one of them.”

Hammond let out a puff of surprise. “Jack…”

Jack stood, palms slamming down on the table. “Don’t you dare try to find us, you tell the fucking President that. We’re not pawns, we’re not scapegoats, and we’re certainly not sacrificial.”

“Jack,” Hammond called. “Don’t make me order you.”

Jack seethed. “I hereby resign my commission to the United States Air Force. I’ll send the paperwork in the morning. Goodbye, sir.” With one last salute, Jack stalked out of the office.

“Secure the base, I repeat secure the base. General O’Neill is not allowed to leave,” Hammond’s voice came over the loudspeaker as Jack began to run down the hall.

He cursed. Most of the men milling around looked at him in confusion. He gave himself a minute before they started trying to detain him. Most would be slow about it because of their previous loyalty to him as base commander, but others were confrontational because of his lovely gene mutation.

“Stop, sir,” one of the marines made a grab for him.

“Stay back!” Jack warned.

The marine undid the safety on his gun. “I said, stop!”

Jack felt his power rippling inside him. Here goes nothing, he thought, and immersed himself in it.

There was a shot, aimed probably towards his legs, and Jack watched as it bounced off the transparent, but glowing shield surrounding him.

“Cool,” Jack said. Then more shots were fired and he was off running again. He didn’t know how long his shield would hold. Probably for a while, he was powerful, dammit, but one couldn’t be too careful when bullets were flying past.

“Goodbye, SGC,” Jack whispered as he reached the guarded gate. He breezed past, his shield pushing away the marines and air force men alike.

“Sir!”

Jack turned, seeing Sam and Teal’c as they ran after him. He stopped.

“Jack,” Sam was shaking.

“I’m not gonna give myself up, Carter,” Jack told her. “I’m sorry.”

Sam blinked and bowed her head. “Try to stay in touch, will you Jack?”

Jack smiled at her. “I’ll try. Take care of yourself, you hear?”

Teal’c put a hand on her shoulder. “Goodbye Jack O’Neill,” the big man said solemnly.

“Bye, Teal’c. Listen to Mitchell, he’s a good man. He’ll make a fine commander,” Jack said.

“I will do as you ask,” Teal’c said. “You are a good friend, Jack O’Neill. I will miss you.”

“Me too, both of you,” Jack felt his throat close up and he cursed himself. “Maybe I’ll see you again.”

And then, before any more could be said, Jack took a couple steps back, turned, and ran.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Thor stood at the helm of his flagship. His beady eyes looked below, watching as the Earth rotated in orbit.

“Have you everything prepared?” he asked.

Another Asgard nodded once besides him. “It is so.”

Thor lifted his head a little higher. “Very well.”


	3. Chapter 3

“We can’t stay,” Rodney said as soon as Jack had finished retelling what had happened at Cheyenne Mountain.

“I didn’t tell them where we are,” Jack protested.

“I don’t mean just this complex,” Rodney shook his head. “I mean this planet. We can’t stay here. They’ll find us eventually, and even if they don’t we’re running out of supplies. It’s getting harder and harder to send people out to get things.”

“Rodney’s right,” John said. “We need to find somewhere where we can actually live.”

“Another planet?” Carson suggested.

“An uninhabited one,” Evan said immediately. “We can’t risk the same thing happening again.”

“Abandon Earth?” Daniel squeaked. “But, who will agree?”

“They abandoned us first,” John pointed out. “We’ll give everyone a choice, of course, but I don’t think too many are going to say no.”

“A place where we can all live freely, make new lives for ourselves, or live in hiding forever,” Jack looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “I agree, Shep, there won’t be too many complaints once we explain.”

“Only about 25% of them know that there are other life forms in the universe,” Rodney said.

“Well, if we explain ‘bout the stargate, then we can also explain what we’re all really,” Carson said. “I hate the word mutant.”

“Me too,” Evan and John echoed at the same time. They exchanged wry smiles.

“Okay,” Daniel nodded. “But where? I mean, we’ve already explored most of this galaxy.”

“Then we don’t go somewhere in this galaxy,” Rodney said.

“What are you saying?” Jack asked slowly.

Rodney looked at them all one at a time. “I say we go to Atlantis.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

The sounds of machines were all around him when Peter Grodin woke. He knew what the machines were even before he opened his eyes. Most were medical, heart monitor was the loudest. But there was another hooked to pads on his skin. Electric waves were flowing from it, and he winced as they zapped softly at him.

Peter opened his eyes fully and turned to stare in the direction of the machine. He didn’t recognize it, but he thought if he could just get his hands on it he would know what it was. Peter tried to move his arm only to find it was strapped to the bed. He frowned and turned his attention to the rest of the room.

It looked at first like a standard hospital room, but Peter knew it wasn’t. There were no windows and the door was a heavy metal thing that Peter was not at all confident he could break down, even if he could get out of the restraints on him.

He was alone in the empty room.

Peter searched his memories, trying to figure out who or what had brought him here. He’d been at the SGC, recovering from whatever it was at Atlantis that had gotten him sick. He paused, the sudden image of Dr. Jackson popping to mind as he recalled why he’d fallen ill in the first place.

And then what? He’d gone home to England to say goodbye to his family. His power had started to awaken in him, he remembered and he’d tried to escape before his bastard of a cousin led the charge into his room.

After that, there was nothing. Peter had no idea where he was, what they wanted with him, or even how much time had passed.

He was trapped.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Alison Porter let her hair cover part of her face as she watched the two females out of the corner of her eyes. They sat together in the dining hall like they always did. Always 0800, or at least that’s what Alison told herself. Military, they were. Female warriors. Amazon princesses.

They were beautiful.

Alison sighed as she picked at her breakfast. She known since she was just a teen that she was more attracted to girls than boys, but she’d never had much luck in the dating department. Who would want a nerdy girl with braces whose favorite activity was people watching?

Course then she’d gone to college and met other people who liked to study human interaction. Psychology was her life, was still her life. And yet despite being surrounded by other nerds, despite having perfectly straight teeth, she’d gone on maybe three dates in the past decade. She liked to tell herself that she was married to her work, but she couldn’t really lie like that.

Lies, that’s what it all came down to. She’d always been good at telling when people were bullshitting her, but ever since she’d mutated it had become more than that. Now she knew to the depths of her soul when people were lying, and if she tried she could tell what specifically they were lying about and sometimes even a hint at the truth.

That’s why she knew there was more to their mutation then their leaders had said so far. They hadn’t outright lied, but she could just feel that they were omitting certain facts. She’d thought at first to ask, but she’d decided against it. She was fairly sure they would say when they could.

Until then, she just helped with what she could. She was part of O’Neill’s protection group, though she’d been kidnapped by Kate Heightmeyer on more than one occasion because of her degree. Kate’s ability to just sink into your mind was simply amazing, way beyond anything Alison could do, but there were too many traumatized people around and the psychiatrist needed all the help she could get. Alison was happy to do it and O’Neill hadn’t seemed to mind that she spent so much time with healing.

Of course, they all mixed and matched. Their powers and their jobs weren’t always a perfect fit. There were scientists in all four different sections, but McKay seemed to use them all regardless of power-lines.

Alison shook her head, telling herself there was no use going on with that train of thought. She’d start to get distracted by her hypothesizes on the hierarchal structure they all had inherent inside them and that just wouldn’t be conductive with a good working day.

“Hey.”

Alison snapped her head up to stare as the two beautiful military woman she’d been watching earlier set their trays down in front of her.

“Mind if we sit here?” the one of the left, the slightly smaller dark-haired one, asked.

Alison shook a ‘no’ wordlessly.

The other one, the U.S. Major, looked at her through half-lidded eyes. “I’m Anne Teldy and this is Alicia Vega.”

“Alison Porter,” Alison said as soon as it seemed that the women were waiting for her to say something.

“Nice to meet you Alison,” Alicia said.

Alison waited, but they were both staring at her and she blushed pink. “Um, was there something you wanted?”

Anne leaned back in her chair. “Do you remember when Lorne announced about some of the quirks of our genes?”

“You mean the hierarchy,” Alison bit her lip. “Err, and the soulmates?”

She’d guessed that was what was going on with Anne and Alicia. She didn’t think they’d be quite so blatant about their relationship if they weren’t soulmates.

Alicia nodded. “Exactly.”

Anne crossed her arms, seeming to contemplate something as she observed Alison. Alison blushed hotter. She was immensely attracted to Anne and Alicia both, but she wasn’t the kind of person to get in the way of a relationship, especially if the two were meant to be together.

“You’ve been watching us,” Anne said finally.

“I’m sorry,” Alison blurted. “It’s just, you,” she stopped herself before she could say something embarrassing.

“We?” Anne prodded.

“You look so happy together,” Alison said finally. She looked down at her tray, not wanting to meet their gaze. She’d never been so mortified. She was usually so good at watching people without their noticing, but it seemed that she’d failed and now she’d lost any hope of…

Of what? What had she wanted?

There was the sound of movement across from her and then Alison felt two bodies slide down on either side of her, close enough to touch but not intruding in her space.

Alison looked up, seeing that Anne and Alicia had both moved to sit next to her. “What?” she looked between them, confused.

Anne and Alicia seemed to exchange a glance. “We asked Doctor Beckett,” Alicia said after a moment. “To make sure, but he wouldn’t tell us much beyond that it should be your choice.”

“What do you mean?” Alison leaned back so she could see both of them. “My choice for what?”

Anne’s mouth was quirking in the corner. “We believe that you’re our soulmate, Alison,” she said.

Alison gaped. She looked first at Anne, then at Alicia. Both seemed serious. But that can’t be, she thought.

And yet, she knew that Anne wasn’t lying. Neither of them were lying. They honestly believed what Anne had said.

“But you two are soulmates,” Alison blurted out. “I can’t be your soulmate if you’re already together.”

Alicia shrugged. “Seems you can,” she said.

“We understand if you don’t want to be with us,” Anne sighed. “We’re hardly conventional as just us. If you don’t want to be in a threesome, then we’ll leave you alone. We do want you, though. Not just as third wheel, but as an equal.”

Alison closed her open mouth with a snap, flushing. “But what about your jobs?” she squeaked finally.

Alicia snorted. “I don’t think the military is going to want either of us back no matter who we’re dating.”

Anne nodded. “It would hardly be a typical relationship, but I’m fairly sure no one here would give us a hard time. We’re all in this together.”

Alison sucked in a deep breath. “You really mean it? You really want me?”

Anne reached forward to pull her closer just Alicia snagged her hand. “We do want you,” Anne said.

“If you’ll have us,” Alicia agreed.

Alison felt her heart begin to pump wildly. Did she want them?

There was no question. None at all.

She wouldn’t be alone again, she thought as the two held her. And maybe she could convince them to take her on some dates. She could be truly happy. Smiling, Alison closed her eyes to hold back the freeing tears and nodded.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Ellen Larsson sucked in a breath and held it as she heard someone come into her section of the cargo hold of the giant in-bound American ship. She had hid in the far back corner; no one should want to go back to where she was until they began unloading.

There was soft footsteps, stopping every once and a while. They neared closer and suddenly Ellen felt something inside her. Another of her kind? Another mutant?

The footsteps came right next to where she was and Ellen peered around the large container.

A slender curly haired man stared back. He was nearly as dirty as she was, most certainly another stowaway. And yes, Ellen could tell, he seemed to glow softly with some sort of power.

Ellen paused, and then made her decision. She scooted back, patting the floor besides her for the man to sit down.

The man hesitated, then he took the offer slowly.

“I’m Ellen,” she said after a moment. She tried to keep her accent to a minimum and hoped the man spoke English.

“Archimedes,” the man introduced himself. He seemed to waver, then asked, “are you… um like me?”

Ellen nodded. “I believe so,” she said. “I can mold metal into shapes,” she smiled.

Archimedes looked around, noting how their little enclave was in fact made from the container in front of them caving in. “Did you do this, then?”

“Yep,” Ellen grinned. “It was difficult, at first, but I am getting better at control.”

“Cool,” Archimedes bit his lip. “I just write things in the air. It’s not useful at all.”

Ellen tilted her head. “Sure it is,” she argued. “You’ll never have to use a whiteboard to show others what you’ve done. Or, um well if you needed to tell someone something and you can’t speak you can just write your message in front of them. Very covert.”

Archimedes rolled this over in his mind for a moment. “I could do that,” he nodded.

There was a moment of silence, then Archimedes turned more towards her. “Where are you from, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Sweden,” Ellen shrugged. “And you are, North Italian?”

“Greek,” Archimedes grimaced. “But why are you on this ship then? I mean, I’m assuming you’re going for the same reason I am… but surely there was an easier way than traveling across the continent to stowaway.”

“I was visiting friends in Romania when I got sick,” Ellen confessed. “This was the fastest way to get to America.”

“America,” Archimedes looked off. “To others like us, I hope.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

John was dressed only in a low-hanging pair of sweats when Rodney knocked on his door. Rodney took a moment to stare appreciatively, eyes only returning to John’s face when the military man cleared his throat.

Rodney blushed. “Um, yes, um Sheppard I was just coming to talk to you.”

John raised an eyebrow. “It’s nearly midnight, Rodney.”

Rodney felt a thrill go down him like it always did hearing John say his first name. He still had a hard time returning the favor. He’d never had many relationships and though he was attracted to John, he also didn’t really know what to do with that attraction. He’d gotten to know the man in the month since he’d arrived at the complex, and Rodney could already tell that his budding  _thing_  with John wasn’t something he wanted to mess up. And yet, here he was. He needed answers too bad to not be.

John sighed. “Come in,” he said roughly as he stepped back.

Rodney slipped around him, claiming the edge of John’s bed as he watched John close the door and grab a shirt to throw on. He fought down the disappointment as that sculptured chest was covered by a plain black tee.

John sat down about a foot from Rodney and turned to him. “What’s this about then?”

Rodney felt himself begin to chicken out and he clenched his hands. “I,” he paused, “I wanted to know where I stood with you.”

John stared. “What?”

Rodney flushed. That had sounded rather idiotic. His brain was throwing suggestions at him, but Rodney wasn’t feeling too logical. He could feel the pull towards John. Both his brain and him agreed with what it meant, but neither of them were sure about how to proceed with that information.

“I think we’re friends, right?” Rodney asked. He and John had gotten along much better than Rodney would have thought, but a flyboy who actually liked Dr. Who was a good man in Rodney’s books.

Something seemed to have settled over John’s face. “We’re friends,” John agreed mildly. He closed his eyes briefly. “Are we really going to talk about this, McKay?”

Rodney frowned. Back to last names. He wondered what he said to cause that switch. “I don’t know,” he confessed. “I don’t know what to do.”

John sighed. “I had a wife once. Her name was Nancy. She was pretty and funny and intelligent and my family loved her. But I,” John paused, “I didn’t really feel anything. When the divorce came through I joined the Air Force and I figured out that I liked flying more than I ever liked her.”

Rodney scooted closer to him. “I thought I was in love with Dr. Carter. Sam is beautiful and almost as much of a genius as me, or as how I used to be. But she didn’t give me the time of day.” Rodney grimaced. “I’m a virgin.”

Rodney closed his mouth quickly. He didn’t know why he’d said that, he vowed never to tell anyone that. 40 year old virgin? What a laugh.

Rodney stood, ready to run for the door. What would John think of him now, he thought. He was freak, a virgin freak with a stupidly big brain and an attitude to match.

John’s face had gotten shuttered. Rodney gulped in the face of it. He’d screwed up with that, goddammit. “I’m sorry, I’ll just go,” Rodney said quickly.

Rodney was two steps from the door when arms stopped him. He struggled briefly against them, and then gave up and turned back to face John. His brain was storing all the information it could about the hug so that Rodney could revisit it over and over if he wanted to. Rodney thanked it silently.

“I don’t like not being able to chose for myself,” John said, face too close for Rodney to see anything but his eyes. They held bits of golden flecks that seemed to constantly move around. Rodney wondered if that was related to John’s power. The man had refused to show any of them but O’Neill what it was and afterwards O’Neill had kept his lips tightly shut on it.

“Is that why you haven’t said anything?” Rodney asked. It made sense. If they didn’t have this soulmate thing between them someone like John would never have been attracted to someone like Rodney, he was sure of that.

John leaned down until their foreheads touched. “But you know I like hanging out with you,” he continued as if Rodney hadn’t asked the question. “And I don’t think it’s all our genes. You make me laugh, keep me entertained. You’re the highest level of genius and I’ve always been drawn to that,” he paused. “So yes, I didn’t say anything because I wanted to make sure I would still like you, would still be interested in you, even if this soulmate business somehow went away.”

Rodney was sensing something and he dared himself to hope just a little. “And?”

John smiled softly. “I really really like you. I want you more than I’ve wanted anyone. I want to be your first, because damn Rodney that’s hot. But I didn’t want to pressure you, even before.”

Before I let slip that I was a virgin, Rodney cursed at himself. “I really like you too, you know,” he said. “A lot.”

John closed his eyes and then opened them again as he pulled back, distancing them. “I’m possessive as hell, you know. Even with Nancy I was, despite how much we didn’t have any chemistry. I don’t think I would be able to let you go once I had you.”

Rodney shivered, John’s words sending a heat through him. “That’s fine with me,” he said with dilated pupils. “More than fine.”

John didn’t smile. “Not tonight, Rodney. I need to think about it, you need to think about it. We need to decide if this is what we really want to do.”

Rodney frowned. “But I know what I want.”

John shook his head. “Please, Rodney,” he practically begged. “Another week, that’s all I ask. Really think about it.”

Rodney bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from saying something he shouldn’t. When he thought he could control himself, he nodded. “One week,” he told his soulmate.

John turned away. “Goodnight, Rodney.”

Rodney hesitated only a moment before he determinedly stalked up to John. His brain whispered encouragements as Rodney grabbed John’s face between his hands. Before the other man could react, he closed the distance between them, giving John a chaste kiss.

“Night, John,” Rodney said, pulling back and escaping.

John’s eyes burned in his back right up until he closed the door between them.

-0o0oOo0o0-

“Jack.”

Jack turned to glance at Daniel. He was out in the courtyard practicing his shields, or force fields as he liked to call them. “Yeah?”

Daniel bit his lip. Jack put up another shield around him as he waited for the scientist to say what was on his mind. Daniel was like that sometimes, needing to sort through his thoughts before he shared them.

“I’m bisexual,” Daniel said finally.

Jack dropped the field, blinking. He hadn’t expected that. “What?”

Daniel looked him straight in the eye, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I’m bisexual, Jack. I always have been, ever since I started experimenting in college.”

Jack took a moment to let that sink in. “Okay,” he said finally.

Daniel huffed. “Is that all you’re going to say?”

“What do you want me to say?” Jack asked. “It doesn’t bother me. I’m not going to suddenly not be your friend or bullshit like that. You mean a lot to me, Danny, you know that.”

Daniel had a strange expression on his face. “You mean a lot to me too, Jack.”

Jack nodded. He focused back on making another shield. It stretched all around him, stopping right before it hit Daniel. He knew he could push it wider, but he didn’t want to test that now. He focused more on making it stronger.

Daniel made a noise and Jack turned to him, trying to keep the shield up as he did so. He would probably need to maintain it while doing other things, he thought. And he certainly shouldn’t drop it just because something had surprised him.

“Carson has a theory,” Daniel said. “About the soulmates.”

Jack froze, but other than that he didn’t react. Soulmates. That wasn’t something he wanted to think about right now. Denial was a nice river after all, probably had some good fishing. He could hang out there a bit longer.

“His theory,” Daniel continued, “is that the pull for soulmates is harder to see if the two people in question already knew each other.”

“Why?” Jack asked.

“Well, because if someone is first meeting another than there are no impression in place,” Daniel said. “The pull is stronger then because there are no conflicting feelings.”

“Okay,” Jack nodded. “Sure, makes sense.”

“Jack,” Daniel sighed. “You do know what I’m getting at, don’t you?”

Jack winced. “I don’t want to,” he admitted. “Fuck, Danny, you’re like twenty years younger than me. Not only that, you’re my best friend. What if,” he paused, “what if you’re wrong.”

“I’m not,” Daniel crossed his arms. “And you know it, Jack.”

Jack dropped the field around him. “Daniel,” he warned.

Daniel walked right up into his space. “I love you,” he whispered. “I’ve loved you for a long time. I know that we can be good together; we’re meant for each other. Don’t throw that away, Jack.”

Jack looked down at the face of the man he trusted more than anyone else. “Christ,” he sighed and pulled Daniel closer to him. “I hate it when you use those eyes on me.”

Daniel smiled. “I know.”

“You’re a manipulative shit,” Jack told him. “And I love you too.” The words almost caught in his throat, but he forced them out. Daniel needed to hear them and hell but he needed to say them.

Daniel’s smile then nearly knocked his breath away.

A sudden flash of light startled both of them. Jack acted without conscious thought, throwing up a shield around their bodies. He cursed as he felt around for his gun. He’d left it inside. Why had he thought it was safe in the courtyard?

Daniel’s reassuring hand was on his arm and Jack looked at the intruder.

It was Thor.

“General O’Neill,” Thor greeted with a dip of his head.

Jack stared for a moment. His immediate reaction was to trust the Asgard. They were friends, or at least as close to friends as one could get with the alien race, but Jack also knew that it was possible Hammond had sent Thor to retrieve him. He kept his shield up. “I’m not a general anymore,” he said.

Thor blinked at him with his large eyes. “You have been promoted again?”

Jack grimaced. “No, I quit the Air Force. I’m just Jack now.”

Thor’s eyes seemed to narrow. “You have become what you were destined to be, Jack O’Neill.”

“What?” That was Daniel. “You know about the mutation?”

Thor turned to him. “Yes Dr. Jackson. We knew the moment we met you. If we had been told you were traveling to the lost city we would have warned your people.”

It didn’t sound like Thor was working with Hammond and so Jack cleared his throat. “Our people, the Tau’ri, aren’t too happy with us right now,” he said slowly.

Thor blinked again. “They do not like that you have become more powerful?”

Daniel’s hand tightened around his arm. “No, they don’t. The SGC is after us, Thor. Do they know you’re here?”

Thor shook his head a minuscule amount. “My fleet is cloaked from your sensors.”

“You can do that?” Jack frowned. “How many times have you watched over Earth without us knowing.”

“Not often, Jack O’Neill,” Thor told him. “We required information on the state of your planet after we received word that the gate to Atlantis had been opened.”

Jack and Daniel exchanged a glance. Jack made a split second decision and he hoped he wouldn’t regret it. “We want to go back there,” he told Thor. “Back to Atlantis. We have no place left here.”

Thor regarded him silently and then nodded. “My loyalty is to you and your team, Jack O’Neill. If you require safe passage to Atlantis, the Asgard will provide it.”

Jack breathed a sigh of relief and Daniel leaned closer to him. “Thank you Thor. We really appreciate it. And we won’t forget it.”

Thor’s mouth twitched in what was the equivalent of an Asgard smile. “We will stay in orbit until you have properly prepared your new people. There are some among you who will be able to contact us when you are ready.”

“We’ll let you know,” Daniel said. “And like Jack said, thanks.”

Thor inclined his head. “I will see you soon, Jack O’Neill, Dr. Jackson.”

And with a flash, he was beamed up.

-0o0oOo0o0-

“How are we going to tell them?” Evan asked. “That’s a big bomb to drop on people who’ve never even heard of the Ancients, let alone the Asgard.”

“We’ll just have to give them enough time to adjust to the idea while we start gathering supplies,” Rodney said. “We need to prepare as much as we can. We don’t know what we’re going to encounter in the Pegasus Galaxy. As far as I know, Atlantis is still underwater at the moment, but it’ll likely rise soon after we all settle in.”

“That’s it then,” Carson nodded. “That’s the plan.”

“Okay,” Jack sighed. “But I want to wait as long as we can. There are still more of us out there that haven’t made it yet.”

“We won’t be able to give them more than a couple of weeks,” Rodney said. “We are running low on time.”

“That has to be enough,” Daniel murmured.

“If we’re really doing this,” John said. “There are other things we need to figure out.”

“What do you mean?” Jack asked.

“We have people from all over the world that’ll have to function as a complete community,” John placed his elbows on the table.

“We need to create a whole new government,” Daniel nodded. “And we need a new name. That kind of thing will give us the sense of unity that will be needed to make the change.”

“I agree,” Carson said.

“Atlanteans,” Rodney murmured. At the stares he frowned. “What? I don’t like calling us Ancients. We’ll be living on Atlantis, it makes sense. We’re not really Ancients anyways, we didn’t grow up as them and despite the fact that biologically we have transformed into them, that’s all that’s happened.”

“We are Atlanteans,” Evan said. “A new race of human. A direct line from the Ancients. That’s what we’ll say. I don’t think that ascension is going to be easy to explain when we have to explain the existence of aliens in the first place.”

“We can elaborate once everything else has sunk in,” Daniel agreed.

“Okay,” John sighed. “That’s it then.”

They exchanged hopeful, solemn glances.

“Next week,” Jack said. “Give some time for some more stragglers to come in and then we’ll lay it on them.”

“One week,” Rodney agreed, glancing at John. John looked away.

Daniel gave Jack a meaningful look. Jack sighed. “Thank god for the Asgard,” he muttered.

John chuckled. “Agreed.”

“To the Asgard,” Carson raised his water glass.

“To the Asgard,” the all echoed.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Above them, orbiting invisibly, the Asgard prepared to accept the group that would soon join them, as was their sworn duty. Thor watched the activity and felt a small form of satisfaction. He would repay one of his many debts to the race known by the humans as the Ancients.

He would take the Atlanteans home.


	4. Chapter 4

There was a knock on the door to the meeting room. The high council all exchanged very confused looks. Most of the residents of the complex knew where and when they held their meetings, but no one ever interrupted them.

“Come in,” John called with a shrug.

The door opened hesitantly and one of Jack’s protection group walked in.

“Chuck?” Jack asked with furrowed eyebrows.

The man, Chuck, ducked his head. “I’m sorry for interrupting, but it’s important.”

“Tell us, lad,” Carson said.

Chuck bit his lip. “I, um, intercepted something.”

“Intercepted?” Rodney frowned. “Wait, you’re the one who can hear radio messages and phone calls from the signal waves, right?”

Chuck nodded. “And I can send messages to people too,” he added with a small smile.

“So what did you hear, then?” Evan asked, sounding worried.

“Well, Jack asked me to see if I can tune into messages that are about us,” Chuck said with a glance at his head. Jack nodded. “It was difficult at first, but I managed to get some control and I was just sort of, um, flipping through to see if I could pick up anything important. There are a lot of phone calls and things that are just angry friends, but I heard one and I stopped and listened for a while.”

“Just tell us what you found, Chuck,” Jack said shortly.

Chuck flushed. “Right, well these two people were conversing, saying something about the mutant not talking yet but they would make him soon. One had a British accent, I think, and the other was American. They said they were trying to make the mutant say where the complex is.”

“Did they say any names?” John asked tensely.

Chuck looked lost in thought. “No, I don’t think so. Wait, um Grody. One of them called the mutant something like that.”

“Grodin?” Daniel sat up straighter. “Peter Grodin?”

“Yeah, that’s it,” Chuck said. “Grodin, that’s what the man said.”

“Oh god,” Rodney looked from Daniel to Jack. “I’d thought…”

“Me too,” Jack looked dismayed. “Shit.”

“Do you have any idea where the message originated from,” Evan asked Chuck quickly.

“No,” Chuck frowned. “I’m sorry, that’s all I know.”

“Thank you, lad,” Carson said. “You can go now, but let us know if you find anything else, okay.”

Chuck smiled. “Okay,” he left quickly.

“Who’s Peter Grodin?” John asked.

“He was on the original Atlantis expedition,” Rodney explained quickly.

“I told him what was happening to his body with the rest of the first wave,” Daniel raised a shaking hand to his head. “He asked to go home to say goodbye to his family. We never heard from him again and his family had nothing to say about their ‘freak of a son’.”

“We’d assumed the worst,” Jack growled. “And we left him at the hands of whoever these bastards are because of it.”

“Damn,” Evan swore. “Well, what do we do?”

“We need to find him,” John said immediately.

Rodney rolled his eyes. “Yes, but how?”

Jack shook his head. “I have no clue.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

Peter glared hard at the man. “I already told you, I don’t know where.”

The man scowled. “And I said that I don’t believe you,” he growled and snapped his fingers. His associate fiddled with a switch.

Peter’s back arched as the electricity flowed through him. His screams filled the room, but he refused to beg for them to stop. He would not give in.

“You will talk,” the man said. “The sooner you do, the better for you, wouldn’t you agree?”

Peter spat at him.

The man backhanded him casually and shrugged. He’d been looking at his watch for the past couple of questions. “Suit yourself, Grodin. We’ll be back soon to pick up where we left off.”

Peter watched with hateful eyes as the man left. His associate trailed behind, but didn’t exit the door. Instead, he turned back to look at Peter.

Peter stiffened as the associate approached his bedside and leaned down. “My little sister mutated,” he whispered.

“Is she in this hellhole, too?” Peter turned his head away.

“No,” the associate, barely more than a kid, said. “She was killed.”

Peter looked back and saw the remorse in the kid’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said softly.

“I can’t get you out,” the kid told him. “But I can probably contact someone.”

Peter’s breath caught in his throat, but he knew he had to be careful. This could be a trap, likely was a trap. But if the boy was serious, he couldn’t waste this chance.

How to send a message without giving away the identity or location of the others of his kind?

Peter thought fast. He could message Elizabeth. She didn’t know anything, did she?

Peter quickly relayed a number he knew by heart. Elizabeth was his friend, she had been the one to invite him to Atlantis. She would understand. “She doesn’t know what I am,” Peter said. “But tell her this: the things awakened in lost cities may be better left alone. And tell her the location of this place. Can you do that?”

The kid looked hesitant, but he nodded anyways. “I’ll try,” he promised.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Elizabeth shook the bottle of pills in her hand. Nearly empty. Hadn’t she just gotten refill? She groaned and put down the bottle, reaching instead for her phone. She’d check her seemingly never-ending messages and then go to bed.

Her empty bed.

Elizabeth sighed. Simon hadn’t stayed long after she’d gotten back and she knew it was her fault. She shouldn’t have just left him, but she had thought Atlantis would be worth it.

She’d been a fool.

Elizabeth put the phone to her ear as the first voicemail message began.

“Dr. Weir,” a young voice Elizabeth didn’t recognize began. “Your friend is in trouble. He said to tell you ‘the things awakened in lost cities should be leave alone’. He needs help, ma’am,” there was a crackle and pause then, “Shit. Kingston, we’re in Kingston. Please, hurry.”

The message cut off and Elizabeth set down the phone, not even caring as the next began to play. What the hell had that been? She replayed it quickly.

The lost city, he must be talking about Atlantis, Elizabeth thought. The mutations started with Atlantis. Just another thing to never forgive herself for, if it wasn’t for her curiosity and insatiable need to find the city of the Ancients, then the world wouldn’t be in the state it was in right now.

But who needed her? Someone from the expedition was in trouble, that had to be it. They were in trouble and they asked for her help.

Elizabeth wasn’t a soldier. She wasn’t even a scientist. But she was determined.

Who to call? Who could she ask for help?

The SGC, she thought. But no, all of the mutated had left Stargate Command. Elizabeth couldn’t be sure Hammond would be able to help.

“Rodney,” Elizabeth whispered. “Rodney will know.”

Picking up her phone again, Elizabeth flipped through her contacts and clicked on the cell number. She prayed that Rodney answered, but even as her heart pumped with fear she felt exhilaration.

Maybe with this one act, she could start to atone.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Ellen was panting, Archimedes leaning against a tree next to her. They had been running, it seemed, for miles after they’d accidentally bumped into a man on the street who’d suspected immediately the reason for their unkempt hair and days old clothing.

They’d been so close, too. Archimedes had been sure their safe haven was just around the corner in the little Canadian town, but they’d been forced to flee into the surrounding wilderness and now they were lost.

“Horunge,” Ellen cursed in Swedish.

Archimedes snorted and straightened. Now that he’d calmed down he could feel again the large pull that they’d both assumed was the place they needed to go.

“Ellen, it’s close,” Archimedes said quickly. “Can you feel it?”

Ellen paused and tilted her head. “Ya, I can.”

They exchanged a glance and walked together through the bramble. It was only another couple of yards before Archimedes pulled back a branch and they caught the first glimpse of the compound.

“Θεέ μου,” Archimedes said. “We found it.”

“We must have been running in this direction,” Ellen breathed.

“Yes, we must have,” Archimedes agreed.

They grinned together and stepped out into the clearing. There was a man at the gate to the complex who spotted them immediately.

“Hello,” Ellen greeted. The man relaxed marginally as they approached, likely feeling the power on both of them.

“Come a long way, huh?” the man said, glancing at them up and down. “We’re glad you made it safely. Is there anyone that might be following you?”

“There was a man in the nearby town, but we believe we lost him,” Archimedes said.

The man nodded. “Usually we have newcomers talk to one of our leaders, but there’s a bit of a situation going on right now. I’ll get someone to show you to the med wing and you can get cleaned up and given a room. You’ll be able to ask all the questions you want after you rest up.”

Ellen relaxed. “That sounds wonderful.”

“Yes, thank you,” Archimedes nodded.

The man smiled at them both. “Well, my name is Rudolph Morrison and let me be the first to welcome you to our little complex.” He clasped the shoulders of both of them. “You can stop running, you’re safe now.”

Ellen’s hand found Archimedes and he squeezed it gently. They had made it.

-0o0oOo0o0-

“Kingston, what?” Jack muttered as he slipped on his TAC vest.

“There is a 70% likelihood the informant meant Kingston, England,” Rodney told him as he watched them get ready.

“Your Czech friend’s got a jet for us, right?” John asked. He was leaning against the wall, dressed in all black.

“Yep,” Daniel answered for Rodney. “You sure you don’t want a gun?”

“Nah,” John shook his head. “I won’t need one.”

Daniel sighed. “Be careful,” he said, eyes only for Jack.

Jack smiled at him. “Don’t worry, dear, I’ll be home in time for dinner.”

Daniel huffed.

Rodney chuckled, but then John was brushing past him and he grew solemn. “Don’t do anything too idiotic,” he whispered.

John clapped him on his shoulder, hand lingering just a bit longer than necessary. Then he was out the door, Jack right behind.

Rodney and Daniel exchanged a fond, exasperated glance. “Back to work,” Daniel said.

Rodney groaned.

-0o0oOo0o0-

“Miller says our ETA is about an hour,” John informed their little rescue team as he sat back in his seat. His hands itched to be the one flying the plane, but he trusted Miller and he and Jack needed to figure out a plan.

Evan Lorne, Darren Leonard, and Matak Jordan sat across from him and Jack, faces grim. John would have liked to grab more of his destructive elite, but he and Jack had both agreed that they couldn’t leave the complex without too many of its best fighters.

“What’s the plan, sir?” Leonard asked.

John watched out of the corner of his eye as Jack leaned against his hand. It was a strange thing to get used to that they all looked to John, not Jack, but then again that was how their hierarchy worked.

“We don’t know how armed these guys are,” John said. “We’re just going in, grabbing our man, and getting out. O’Neill is going to cover us with a shield the whole way, but he’ll make sure you can escape out of it if you need to in order to engage the enemy.”

John paused and sighed. “These people have hurt one of ours, we’ll take no prisoners, but I don’t want a total massacre unless there are no other options. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” the three said.

John nodded.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Peter struggled against his restraints. His interrogator had popped out of the room for just a moment. Soon enough he was back, but his expression had morphed to one of annoyance.

“Seems you’re friends,” the man spat out the word, “have mounted a foolish rescue mission.”

Peter’s breath caught in his throat. The kid had come through!

Then the man was continuing. “Though how they thought five against our entire compound would be enough to save you, I don’t know,” he sneered.

Five? Surely Peter had misheard.

“But no matter,” the man said. “I do love contingency plans.”

And then he picked up a large needle. “This may hurt,” he grinned cruelly.

Peter’s screams filled him until he passed out.

-0o0oOo0o0-

The preliminary defenses they bowled through inside Jack’s shield. They didn’t worry about the cameras spotting them, they figured that it didn’t matter if the men knew they were coming.

Just to confuse them, though, Evan swiped a hand, creating illusions of the group going in through different entrances. The guards outside began shooting wildly, startled, and they went inside without any problems.

It was once they were actually in the main building that they ran into trouble. A whole squad of mercenaries fired and Jack had to stop running, concentrating solely on keeping up the shield.

Leonard raised his arms and took control of two of the mercenaries in the back. He mimed shooting as he had both men shoot on their own companions. In no time, they were able to walk over the bodies, Jordan knocking both of the puppets in the head as they went by.

John led the way, sensing for Grodin as they moved. An alarm was sounding and in front of them a gate was coming down to block the hallways.

Jordan moved quickly, blocking the gate and lifting it up as if it were nothing. They went on, a squad of elites in a sea of gunshots, hired thugs, and rogues.

Finally, John stopped in front of a door, the others falling behind him. He frowned at it. “Jordan,” he called.

Jordan kicked and the door dented but did not open. John scowled then. He had not wanted to use his power, he was frankly uncomfortable with how it made him feel, but Grodin was behind that door.

Taking a deep breath in, John reached inside himself and encased his body in that strength he held within. He heard Jordan, Leonard, and Evan gasp as he transformed. He knew he looked like a monster, blue-skinned and bug-like as he stood with golden eyes.

John ignored his companions and instead placed both hands on the door. It rotted away in an instant and they were inside.

John saw first Grodin, or as he assumed from the pictures he’d seen and the power that pulled towards the unconscious man. Then he saw another man standing over Grodin’s limp body and he acted on instinct.

The man’s body slumped to the ground before the other could react, severed in a diagonal line down the middle. John watched dispationatly as the upper half rolled away slightly, the eyes of the man wide and staring.

“John,” Jack said hesitantly.

John struggled with himself for a moment, and then finally the blue receded and he was back to normal. “Jordan, you take Grodin.”

Jordan did so immediately. John stopped before they left the room and looked each of them in the eye. “This doesn’t leave this building, is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” they responded.

And then Evan grinned. “For the record, sir, that was badass.”

John blinked as Leonard and Jordan nodded in agreement.

“Told you so,” Jack said smugly.

John sighed. “Let’s go.”

Their chuckles followed him out the door.

-0o0oOo0o0-

“How’s he doing?” Rodney asked as Carson joined them at the front of the dining hall.

“Better,” Carson sighed. “But he will need a while longer to recover. He had a rough time of it, the poor lad.”

John grimaced. Daniel grabbed Jack’s hand, which Jack squeezed.

“Are we really doing this, sir?” Evan asked as he looked around the assembled crowd.

“We don’t have that much time left,” Rodney answered. “Okay then, everyone ready?”

They all nodded to varied degrees. Jack stepped forward first and cleared his throat.

“Attention,” he said, though the hall was already quieting. “You all may have noticed that the public is not getting any more tolerant of us.”

Daniel stared at Jack and rolled his eyes. That was not what they’d agreed to say.

“Frankly, we’re worried that it will be a long long time before we can integrate back into society,” Jack continued. “We want to keep you safe, keep you fed and clothed, but it’s getting harder to do so.”

John walked up to stand by Jack. “There’s another place we can go,” he said. “It’ll be extremely isolated and the likelihood of you seeing your families again are practically null. However, no one on Earth will be able to bother us. We can start over, create new lives for ourselves.”

“Before we explain that, though,” Daniel interrupted. “We need to tell you a story. The truth, if you will. Because, I’m afraid to say, this is all, in the end, my fault.”

And so Daniel explained about the Stargates, the Asgard, the Ancients, and finally about Atlantis. As he talked, the others watched the crowd. They saw varying expressions, anything from understanding to horror to disbelief.

Finally, Daniel finished and Rodney spoke into the heavy silence. “We want to take you to Atlantis. To our home, the home of our kind. We are no longer human, we are Atlanteans. I can’t say it’ll be easy, but it will be a chance to escape this hell of a planet and be free.”

“We’re giving you a choice,” Jack said. “This time next week we’ll take a list of people who want to come with us. Those who don’t, you may continue to live here or you may try to live along with the humans of Earth. It is your choice, and only yours.”

“If you don’t believe us,” Carson piped in. “There’re members of the SGC here who you can ask about other worlds and even some who’ve been on Atlantis already. Raise your hands, lads.”

Slowly, those already familiar with the Stargate Program raised their hands. The rest looked at them with wonder and confusion.

“Spend your week, talk to your peers,” Daniel advised.

“Dismissed,” Evan muttered.

John glanced at his second. “That’s all we have to tell you.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

“You’ve really been to other planets?” David Parrish asked as he walked in the botanists’ makeshift garden.

“Yes,” Katie Brown said. She cut off one of the buds of the plant she was tending to and handed it to him. He set it with the rest of the organic material to be taken to the kitchen.

“What’s it like?” David asked as he kneeled down next to her.

Katie’s hands paused. “Amazing,” she said. “I mean, sometimes it can be scary, but there are many friendly cultures too. It’s truly fascinating.”

David stroked the plant next to him, which was reaching for his touch. He smiled at it. “So you’re going to Atlantis?”

“Where else can I go?” she sighed. “But even if I had another option, I think I would. Think of all the new people, the new flora to research. Besides, they’re going to need someone to start growing food.”

“True,” David said. “And O’Neill and Sheppard will protect us, right?”

Katie smiled brightly at him. “Our leaders are strong. I have no doubt they’ll do everything in their power to help us survive this change.”

David nodded and sat back on his butt. One of the plants on his other side wrapped lightly around his ankle. “Okay then.”

“You’ll go?” Katie asked.

“Well,” David grinned, “I certainly can’t let you hog all those new plants to yourself.”

Katie laughed.

-0o0oOo0o0-

James Watson thrust deeper into his lover, grunting as she lifted her hips to meet him. “Harriet,” he moaned. His hands moved down from her waist to her hips.

“Harder, Jim,” Harriet gasped. “Fuck me.”

Jim lowered his head, taking one of her breasts in his mouth as he pounded into her. She twisted under him, her orgasm rolling through her suddenly. That was all it took as he came hard and then collapsed on top of her.

“Mhmm, Jim,” Harriet said as he pulled out slowly and threw the condom across the room. It bounced off the trashcan, but he ignored it.

“Yeah, baby?” Jim asked, pulling her closer to him.

“Are you okay with going with them,” she asked, curling his chest hair under a single finger.

Jim’s arm tightened around her briefly. “I go where you go.”

Harriet sighed and turned slightly so she could look him in the face. “I want to go.”

“Then we’ll go,” Jim said. “Together.”

“Together,” Harriet said, kissing him softly.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Kate Heightmeyer sat in the corner of the dining hall. She tried to blend into the wall as she scanned around at the minds of the people eating. She needed to know how the mutants, or Atlanteans she supposed, were taking this new news. The ramifications of total uproar and shock were not good and she needed to be prepared.

But on first scan, she had a welcome surprise. No one was outraged, anything but. There was a number of minds still reeling, but many held a tint of relief and anticipation.

She supposed that next to mutating, another science fiction fact wasn’t going to shock too many.

Kate shook her head. Why had she been so worried? These people, her new kind, were the best and the brightest the world had to offer. Those with the ATA gene were not simple pedestrians off the street. They were scientists, successful civilians, and strong military minds. They were all powerful in their own right, and all open-minded.

She wondered briefly if that open-mindedness was a cause for the ATA gene, or an effect of it.

Relieved, Kate finally began eating her dinner. When their leaders asked for the names of people coming with them to Atlantis, they would be getting more than they probably expected.

At the very least, her name would be on that list.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Rodney lay on his bed, feet bouncing to an unknown rhythm. In front of him was several pictures of the inside of Atlantis and some sketches speculating what the outside would look like. Since the city had never risen, they hadn’t been able to fully see her beauty, but Rodney could just imagine it.

His door opened, but Rodney didn’t turn, feeling immediately who it was that intruded his space. There was a dip in the bed and then John was leaning over his shoulder, looking at the images.

“That’s her?” he asked softly.

Rodney nodded. “Atlantis,” he breathed.

John reached forward and thumbed one of the sketches. “She’s gorgeous.”

“She is,” Rodney set down the pictures and sat up to face John. “You’ll love her, I know you will.”

John smiled at him. “I believe you.”

Rodney’s heart began to quicken. “John…”

John sighed. “I want you, Rodney. I still do, but I don’t, I can’t pressure you into anything. It’s on you.”

Rodney reached up and hesitantly place his hand on John’s shoulder. “I want you,” he whispered. “A lot.”

John’s hand came up to hold Rodney’s in place on him. “I should resist, but I’m not a saint. I can’t stop myself.”

“John,” Rodney began.

“No, Rodney listen,” John said urgently. “I don’t have that much control. You don’t have much experience, I get that. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“What about me hurting you?” Rodney said, tugging his hand back. “This isn’t one-sided you know.”

“I know,” John told him. “But there’s not much you can do that will hurt me. I’ve always liked rough sex, Rodney. Always. You have to promise me that if I do something you don’t like you’ll tell me.”

Rodney stared at him searchingly, but John wasn’t looking down on him. He seemed sincere, and somewhat worried.

Rodney sighed. “Okay,” he agreed. “Only if you do the same.”

John breathed out audibly. “Sure,” he said. “Whatever you want.”

Rodney looked at his hands, suddenly nervous. “I’m not sure if I-”

“This goes at your pace,” John cut in. “Only what you’re ready for, okay?”

Rodney nodded, slightly relieved. John was right, he was inexperienced. He wasn’t a girl, and he wasn’t a blushing virgin despite his virgin status, but he had gone forty years without penetrating, let alone being penetrated and he wasn’t sure what to expect.

His brain popped several informative images in his mind and Rodney shooed them away, face red. He knew the theory, he just wasn’t comfortable with the idea yet.

“Rodney?” John asked.

“Sorry, my brain is being stupid,” Rodney muttered.

John looked at him amused. No one seemed to get the relationship Rodney had with his brain. His brain was in agreement about the fact that it was often considered just the same as Rodney. It also miffed.

“You want to go see a movie? I borrowed a DVD player for my room,” John offered.

Rodney smiled. “Sure, I’d like that.”

John smiled back and slowly, very slowly, held out his hand. Rodney took it, pleasant surprise coursing through him as John intertwined their fingers. It felt… nice.

His brain retreated, letting Rodney feel with his emotions and not his logic as he and John walked together to John’s room, fingers locked.

-0o0oOo0o0-

“No,” Elliot Rutherford moaned, twisting in his bed. “No, stop. They’re coming, run!”

Elliot turned again, sweating. His hands clutched at nothing, his legs were flailing and kicking around. “Stop, don’t. Must leave, must leave.”

“NO!” Elliot sat bolt upright, panting. His room was dark as he looked around wildly.

“Goddammit,” he muttered, voice hoarse. “Not another nightmare.”

Elliot’s hands shook as he wiped his brow. Banging his head back against the wall, he blinked harshly. He wondered if he should tell O’Neill. He hadn’t believed his dream the first time and then he’d nearly died as it came true. The second one had warned him in time to escape and come to the complex, but it was a near thing.

But this wasn’t like the first two. This wasn’t just about him. This was about all of them. They were in danger; someone was coming. Someone had found out where they were.

Elliot brought his knees up and rested his head against them. “Fuck,” he groaned. “No choice, we have to leave.”

He breathed out a deep breath. “Atlantis,” he murmured. “We have to go now.”


	5. Chapter 5

Peter woke utterly panicked. He sat up in his bed, relieved as he noticed he was not restrained. The last thing he remembered was his interrogator, then pain and darkness.

No, wait; five men had come to rescue him.

Peter looked around and was immediately noticed by a young woman he didn’t recognize. She looked friendly, though, as she rushed up to him.

“Mr. Grodin,” she said quickly. “Please lie back down, you’re still recovering.”

“Who are you?” Peter asked. “And where am I?”

The lady smiled at him. “I’m Doctor Jennifer Keller. You are safe, we are at Dr. McKay’s hidden complex and this is the medical wing.”

“Rodney?” Peter’s shoulder’s relaxed. “Then, they did rescue me?”

Jennifer nodded. “Yes, they did. We’re all awfully sorry for the trauma you went through. If we’d known sooner…” she let her sentence hang.

Peter couldn’t resist giving her a weak smile of his own. “I understand. I’m out now, that’s all that matters.”

Jennifer nodded. “When you’re more recovered, I’ll tell you all that’s going on. We’re actually going to be moving locations soon, but first you need to rest more.”

Peter breathed out deeply. “Okay,” he said as he settled back down.

He let the sounds of her tinkering with the machines around him lull him into blessed sleep.

-0o0oOo0o0-

“Who pissed ye all so much, eh?” the vendor asked with a crooked smile as he accepted the briefcase of money and the bags of food supplies.

“It’s not for you to know,” the dark-suited man said stiffly.

The vendor frowned. “Well, I’m selling yer stuff.”

The man adjusted his sunglasses and gave the vendor a nasty smirk. “If you don’t want to, I can just take back your compensation.”

“Nah,” the vendor pulled the briefcase closer to him. “I’ll sell yer goods, no worries, eh? We’re all happy.”

“We are,” the man agreed. “They may not be.”

The vendor narrowed his eyes, but his hands ran across the briefcase and he just sighed. “Not me problem,” he murmured to himself.

“Good man,” the suited man clapped the vendor on the shoulder. “Your help is much appreciated.”

The vendor turned away, waving the man off. The man went easily.

-0o0oOo0o0-

The group nearly filled up the large room Rodney had told John to use. John stood in front of the assembled faces, studying them all in silence. They looked back at him, expectant but waiting patiently enough. These were his people, his men and women. The destructives.

“By now you’ve all had time to adjust to the idea of living on Atlantis,” John said finally. He waited for the nods. When they came, he continued. “I’ve called you here to make some plans. We’re going to be a small group in a large galaxy that has lived for years without the rule of the Ancients. We’re bringing supplies, enough hopefully to last us for at least half a year, but eventually we’re going to need to find an alternative source of food.”

John grimaced. “We’re going to need to make friends, and as few enemies as possible. But make no mistake; we will make enemies. We will be a new group to the galaxy, it’s possible we won’t be liked by anyone.”

His force seemed to agree with his assessment. It was their job, John supposed, to deal with that kind of thing.

“You want us to be your military,” came a voice from the front. It was Kersey, one of the most powerful of the group with his ability to control fire. “Your scouts, explorers, and if necessary soldiers.”

John looked him in the eye and nodded sharply. He turned his attention back to all of the group. “I know that only about half of you were in the U.S. military. Beyond that, I believe that most of you have some military or armed force experience. I think we were all drawn to fighting in some ways even before our genes activated. At least, that’s what Rodney likes to tell me.”

There was some scattered chuckling at the mention of the scientist. Rodney had wormed his way into the hearts of nearly all of them, despite the arrogant man’s constant stream of rants and raves.

“I need to know what everyone is capable of and I need to know now, before we leave Earth,” John said. “Weir and Sumner found a hologram when they first explored Atlantis that spoke of an enemy that pushed our ancestors, our Ancient ancestors, to evacuate back to Earth.”

John watched as that news settled in them. That wasn’t something they had decided to reveal to everyone. Frankly, they didn’t know enough about the supposed enemy to risk scaring those who might already be put off from the necessity of traveling to a different galaxy.

But John was proud of his destructive force. He could see as the faces started working around this problem, understanding the implications. He could continue on.

“Jack and I have talked over what we’re going to need out there. We’ve agreed that we can’t try to keep any sort of U.S. Military power structure; despite the fact we were both in the Air Force. He’s working on a new system for his protectors, but he wants us to figure out how we’re going to work first since there are far more of us.”

John took a deep breath. “What I need first is to make sure you all accept what your new duties will likely be. I’m going to need soldiers. Most of you will be on gate teams, going out to meet the natives, broker trade deals, and, yes, also deal with hostile situations. It’s not going to be an easy job, ladies and gentlemen.”

“By now I’ve gotten the background on almost all of you. I will try to fit your new positions with what you can do. We have a couple of scientists and civilians in here,” John gave them a reassuring smile, “but don’t worry. You’ll likely be on second and third contact teams. I will never put someone in what I perceive to be a potentially dangerous situation if they aren’t comfortable.”

“We’re a new force,” John said finally. “And we need a new name. I know that sounds a bit trivial, but I believe, all of the high council believes, it will give us a sense of unity. Rodney and Jack both gave me a couple options,” John groaned as he remembered, “but I’d rather we all brainstorm together.”

No one spoke.

“Come on,” John rolled his eyes. “Throw them out there. I promise not to laugh at you too much.”

Chuckles, and then a couple spoke up.

“The Ancient Troops.”

“The Space Marines.”

“The Astronaut Attackers.”

“The Spearheads.”

John turned to Aiden Ford and stared. The kid shrugged. “What, it’s like Jarhead, but better cause you can actually do stuff with spears.”

“You are never allowed to name things, ever,” John told him flatly.

Ford just grinned.

“How ‘bout the Atlantean Armed Forces,” Miller suggested into the resulting silence.

John looked out at him. “Okay,” he drawled. “Simple enough. Two sectors. The protectors, Jack is favoring using the term guardians, or possibly just guards, at this point. And us. But what are we?”

“Warriors,” Alicia Vega stated. “We’re warriors. That’s what we are, sir. You can call us pilots or marines or troops or any other fancy bullshit, but we’re just warriors in the end.”

John’s eyes narrowed, but Vega smiled softly and he sighed. “Votes? Raise your hand for warriors.”

Not all, but a number of the hands raised. John did a quick count and nodded. “Majority rules, warriors it is.” John paused and licked his bottom lip. “Any questions so far?” He waited. “Comments? Concerns?”

Anne Teldy raised a hand and quirked it in John’s direction. “Teldy?” he asked.

“What’s our structure going to look like?” she asked, seeming honestly curious. “There just aren’t enough of us to have all the ranks most of us are used to. And honestly, we all know where we stand with those around us, so keeping old ranks is just not going to work.”

“Exactly,” John shifted to spread his weight evenly on both legs. “So here’s what I’m thinking, but I wanted to run it by all of you. Elimination of all ranks but a couple. I’m going to need a leader for each of the gate teams, and those leaders are going to have to have some sort of rank over their team. That’s the point of leaders.”

John looked briefly at Teldy. “But, yes, I’m pulling those leaders from those of you already higher up in our little hierarchy. However, there are some of you who are very powerful, but whom I don’t think yet have the experience needed to be in command yet. I stress yet. That’ll be another rank, a sort of upcoming leader. After that, well, there aren’t that many of you in the grand scheme of things.”

Jordan in the back row straightened. “In Sudan, we liked to call our leaders ‘Commanders’. That is not a position commonly used in Western military groups, I believe. It would give us a new start.”

John blinked. “Commanders,” he rolled the word in his mouth. Easy to use and also rare enough now-a-days. A new start, huh? “Everyone agree with that?”

There were some collective nods and murmurs.

From somewhere in the middle, Stackhouse grinned up at him from beside Markham. “And you’d be our High Commander, right, sir?”

John snorted. “High Commander?” he asked, a bit incredulous.

“I like it,” Dusty Mehra nodded.

“Me too!” a couple more voices popped out.

John rubbed the back of his neck. Seated almost directly in front of him, Evan chuckled. “It seems we are all in agreement, High Commander Sheppard.”

John glared at him, and then grinned with all his teeth. “Fine,” he said mildly. “Fine, we’ll go with that. Well then, as my first act as your High Commander, ladies and gentlemen let me introduce you to my next in charge, Second Commander Lorne.”

John cocked his head, not dropping the grin until Evan had sighed and stood up to take his place beside him. “I’ll get you back for this, sir,” Evan muttered. “Second Commander? Really?”

“It only makes sense,” John told him. “Stop whining.”

Evan shook his head and fell into parade rest.

“Okay then,” John turned to the rest of them. “I’m going to list off your other commanders and the couple of,” he paused, “cadets.”

“Cadets?” Teldy asked.

“Well, I don’t really think commanders-to-be has as nice of ring, don’t you agree?” John smirked.

“How very Trekkie of you, sir,” Evan sighed.

“Your commanders,” John said seriously. “Frank Kersey, Anne Teldy, Darren Leonard, Matak Jordan and Mike Dorsey.”

He waited until all five had come to stand in front of him, faces filled with a sort of grim determination. All of them knew what it meant to be in command. “Congratulations, men.” At Teldy’s cough he added, “and woman. I wish I had some fancy ribbon or medal to give you, but McKay’s group is still working on our uniforms.”

“We get uniforms?” Leonard raised an eyebrow.

“Daniel insisted,” John said… and really didn’t that just explain it all. He turned back to the crowd.

“There are two of you out there at this time that I feel deserve a command based on power,” John said. “Both are trained in combat and command, but neither I think are quite ready to face true leadership positions, especially in what will be a new territory. For that reason, I am promoting them both to the new rank of cadet,” he paused a beat for effect. “Laura Cadman and Aiden Ford.”

Both looked stunned as they stood to join the new commanders. “Sir,” they said together.

“Congratulations, Cadets,” John smiled at them. “Do me proud.”

“We’ll try, sir,” Cadman grinned.

Ford nodded vigorously, seeming thrilled. “Definitely, sir.”

“Face your troops, Commanders, Cadets” John told them. They did and he looked around the silent group. “These are your leaders. You will follow them, you will listen to them, and you will let them guide you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir!” the hall echoed.

John nodded. “That’s all I needed to hear.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

The new Atlanteans sat in the dining hall, laughing as they chatted amongst themselves. They were in high moods, excited for a new beginning after months of discrimination, harassment, and hiding for their lives.

Only five had said no to Atlantis and those five were already back with their families. The rest wished them well, but in their hearts they felt the mistake of their companions’ decision.

Gerald Baxter smiled from behind the makeshift chef’s table. It was his week to bake and surprisingly he was loving it. He reached down under the cloth and grabbed another pan to set on the table.

“Excuse me, everyone,” he called loudly. He clapped a couple times and soon had the attention of the hall. “The lovely miss Warrior Crown managed to get me a large supply of chocolate and flour. In light of this amazing delivery, I’ve concocted for you, my friends, some brownies. Please, one each, and enjoy!”

There was applause and shouts of “yes” as people jumped up to get their brownies.

Xiao Hu Kiang sat near the chef table and she got up slowly, getting in line to get her chocolate treat. Baxter grinned at her as she reached out to grab the top brownie.

Kiang gasped as she touched the top of the brownie, nausea coming over her in a wave so powerful she fell against the table.

“Little Red?” Baxter called, grabbing for her. “Kiang, are you okay?”

“No,” she grunted. “Don’t. Bad, it’s bad”

Baxter paled dramatically. “Kiang?”

Kiang shuddered and yelled out loud, “Don’t eat! Poisoned, it will kill you. No one eat the brownies!”

Just then the few who’d already started on their treats dropped to the ground, convulsing, and panic ensured.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Jennifer frowned as she re-read the results of her blood tests.

“Something wrong, lass?” Carson asked as he meandered over to her.

“I don’t know,” she told him. “There’s something off in Grodin’s blood. Something extra, organic I think.”

Carson raised an eyebrow and grabbed the test sheet. She handed it over willingly, watching dismayed as his face transformed from confusion to horror.

“I need ta talk to the council,” Carson said quickly. “It’s a biological tracker.”

Jennifer paled. “But I thought those were just rumors.”

“No,” Carson shook his head. “Just very rare. Ye need ta get it outta him, lass.”

“How?” Jennifer asked, feeling ill.

“Use your power,” he told her, already halfway to the door. “Eradicate it from his system.”

Jennifer watched as he disappeared from sight and then turned back to her patient. “This is very, very bad.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

“It wasn’t me!” Baxter said again. “I promise you, I would never…”

“We’re not accusing you,” Daniel said, trying to calm the poor man down. “We just need to know where you go the ingredients and who touched the food.”

“I already told you, the chocolate and flour was the only new things and Crown delivered them,” Baxter wiped his forehead with his handkerchief. “I was the only one who baked them. I never left the kitchen, I swear.”

John frowned. “I already talked to Crown, she’s feeling guilty as hell. She picked the things up from a street vendor, didn’t think much of it other then the fact that they looked fine.”

“Shouldn’t have trusted a street vendor,” Rodney scoffed.

“We’re all running out of options,” Jack pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

“You can go back to your room now,” Evan told Baxter. “We’ll call you if we need anything else.”

Baxter bowed, a habit many of the Atlanteans had taken up that still kind of creeped out the head council. The minute the door closed behind him, it opened again, letting in Carson.

“You missed the excitement,” Jack drawled as Carson hurried to them.

“Not really,” Carson told him, scoffing. “Ye should see the state of the medical wing, right now. It’s a disaster. We’re lucky only a couple of Atlanteans consumed the poisoned brownies.”

“Will they be okay?” Daniel asked, worried.

“Aye,” Carson sighed. “We got them fast enough. But that’s not what I came here to tell you. Before we were suddenly swamped with new patients, Doctor Keller found an anomaly within Grodin’s bloodstream.”

“An anomaly?” Rodney asked. “What kind of anomaly, Carson?”

“A tracker within the bloodstream. It’s verre high tech, the latest in organic machinery,” Carson told them.

“Shit,” John said. “Are you saying?”

“Yes,” Carson nodded. “It’s very possible the poison in the brownies was not a chance occurrence.”

“They know where we are,” Evan said. “Fuck!” he swore. “Sir, do you want me to double the patrol around the complex.”

“No,” Jack said. “Wait, if you do that they’ll know we know.”

“Already too late,” Carson shook his head. “Their first plan of attack failed, it won’t take long for them to figure that out.”

“Rutherford’s dream,” Daniel said suddenly. “Jack, he saw this coming.”

The other council members paled. They remembered what the man had told them just last week, but in the business of preparing to leave and rescuing Peter Grodin, they’d mostly set it aside to be discussed later.

“We need to leave,” John said. “We need to contact the Asgard and go.”

“Before we can’t,” Rodney agreed. “We need to go today, if possible.”

“Shit,” Jack looked like he wanted to bang his head on the table. “We’re idiots, we could have gotten all of us killed.”

“No one’s dead yet,” Carson reminded him.

“Yet,” John said darkly.

-0o0oOo0o0-

“Bye Radek,” Rodney said. His throat was closing up and he cursed himself. He had so few good friends and now he was leaving one to a bigoted world.

“Take care of yourself, Rodney,” Radek said back equally as softly. “Don’t blow up any solar systems or anything.”

“As if I would do that,” Rodney scoffed, a smile coming over him. “Try not to get yourself killed, okay?”

“You too,” Rodney could just hear Radek’s smile. “You too.”

Rodney breathed out. “Maybe I’ll see you again.”

“Perhaps,” Radek agreed. “Tell Atlantis I said ‘hi’.”

Rodney blinked. “Sure, whatever you want.”

“You’re a good man, Rodney McKay,” Radek said. “I will miss you.”

“I-” there was a click and Rodney stared at the phone. Radek had hung up on him.

Rodney sighed and set the phone down. “I’ll miss you too,” he said to the wall. “More than you know.”

-0o0oOo0o0-

The entire complex was a flurry of activity. Men and women moved their supplies into one large pile in the center of the dining hall. The healers were wheeling what patients they could to be besides the others, the ones in too critical condition waited still in the med wing.

Out in the front, John and Jack stood side-by-side. Around them, a mix of Atlantean guards and warriors stood at attention. It had taken many hours to get to this point, the sun was already on its way to setting, but they were finally there and so far there had been no attack.

That peace would not last. Thor was working as fast as he could, Chuck informed them, but the Asgard ship would need another hour or so until they were able to beam up all of the Atlanteans and their supplies.

And so, the small army waited for the proverbial shoe to drop.

“There’s something there, sir,” Guard William said suddenly. His advanced hearing had been set to the task of observing the surrounding area.

“What is it Williams?” Jack asked, remarkably loose sounding though his shoulders were as tense as everyone’s.

Williams shifted for a moment. “Helicopters,” he said finally. “And bombers.”

John breathed out harshly. “Shit.”

Vega looked, eyes seeming to focus on something way in the distance. “Three bombers,” she said. “A whole helicopter squad in numbers, but different units. It’s combined, sirs, U.S., Canada, and the UN.”

There was tense silence until soon enough everyone could hear the helicopter propellers as they approached and came into view.

The bombers came in first, fast and hard. Jack pushed up a shield, protecting the complex as explosion blasts appeared over their heads. John gestured to his warriors, watching with satisfaction as Vega lined up a rocket launcher and sent one of the helicopters careening out of the sky.

“This is Landry of the U.S. Air Force!”

The voice came from one of the helicopters hovering just out of reach of the rocket launchers. It seemed to be amplified by a loud speaker so they could all hear it, though Williams winced.

“You are to surrender immediately! Lower your shield and we will negotiate the terms!”

“As if,” Teldy muttered. “Terms? They’ll just bomb us away.”

Jack shook his head in response to both Landry and Teldy. He strengthened the shield even further in defiance.

“How much longer?” John asked Chuck. Next to the man, words were being written in the air from Archimedes back with the Atlanteans in the dining hall. They were doing fine, it seemed, though many were nervous about the noise of explosions going on.

“Ten minutes, sir,” Chuck said quickly. “They’re almost ready.”

“Surrender. This is your last warning!”

John growled, wanting to take an active role in protecting his people. Markham and Stackhouse stood together, hands clasped, as they shot pure shock energy out towards the attacking force. Kersey was throwing fucking fireballs and Rivers was freezing propellers best he could. Even Evan was causing the enemy to get confused by making illusions of more helicopters and planes blocking the attacker’s sight. But John of course was useless at ranged attacks. He never hated his power more than in that moment.

He shouldn’t have been worried, though. In the end, Earth really didn’t have a chance of stopping them. Even as the humans began to rethink their actions of attacking the complex with so few troops, a bright light surrounded all of the Atlanteans and they were beamed aboard several Asgard ships simultaneously.

Landry sat in his helicopter below and cursed as the mutants escaped. But even as he recognized the light and began to call for the SGC to intervene, the Asgard ships were already veering out of orbit and into hyperdrive.

-0o0oOo0o0-

Elizabeth sat on her back porch looking up at the stars. She wondered where the mutants, the descended Ancients, were now. She wondered if she’d ever learn. She wondered a lot of things.

“What happened to the world?” she asked herself. “Why did we force them to this point?”

She remembered the visit she’d gotten from the UN, barging into her home, interrogating her on the whereabouts of the mutant horde, as they called it. Only her ignorance saved her.

“They escaped,” she whispered. “They’re gone.”

Elizabeth curled her legs under her and clung to her cup of tea as she continued to watch the stars. The world had detested them, thrown them out, tried to eradicate them. Only a few hundred people different from the rest of the popluation, a small minority, and they were feared like no minority before them.

“We’re a biased planet,” Elizabeth noted.

She wondered if that could change, if people had just stood up for the mutants it would have been different. She wondered what would have happened if she’d taken a more active part in defending their case. She wondered if she would be with them now if she had.

Elizabeth felt a hot stream on her face and lifted a shaking hand to feel the tears as they fell.

“You’re a mess,” she told herself. “Shape up, Liz.”

A chocked sob came as she said it, and Elizabeth closed her eyes against the brightness of the stars.

“I’ll do it,” she told herself, or maybe the stars. “I’ll change the world.”

She might not be able to help the mutants anymore, but she could help other minorities. She could be a spokesperson, an advocate for the discriminated. She could help Earth become more tolerant.

She could fix the mistakes she’d made, at least for those that remained. And maybe, maybe if things got better the others would come back, would forgive her.

Elizabeth sat up straighter and opened her eyes, staring determinedly not at the stars but at the yard around her. “This is Earth,” she told herself. “This is my battleground. This is my fight.”

And fight she would.

-0o0oOo0o0-

John and Rodney stood together at the helm of the ship, watching the stars zoom past as they raced forward in hyperdrive. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen,” John told his lover. “It’s beautiful.”

Rodney stepped a bit closer to him. “Just wait until you see Atlantis,” he said with a soft smile that only ever seemed to come out when he looked at John.

John reached out and intertwined their fingers. “As long as you’re there, I’m sure I’ll love it.”

Rodney blushed and turned back to the window. “Dumbass,” he muttered.

John chuckled.

Daniel watched them from his position slightly in front of Jack and Thor. He felt a pang in his heart and hot eyes on his back. He turned to look at Jack, whose conversation with the Asgard seemed to have ended.

“You ready?” Jack asked. “I know you wanted to go to Atlantis the first time we sent an expedition.”

“I’m ready,” Daniel told him. He took a deep breath, bolstering his courage, and then got right up into Jack’s space. “I’m ready,” he said again.

Jack looked surprised for just a moment and then he grinned. “Aww, Danny-boy,” he said.

Daniel whacked him on the arm. “Jack,” he whined.

Jack sobered and leaned down, giving Daniel a very quick peck on the lips. “I’m ready too.”

Daniel leaned in and returned with another kiss. “Okay.”

Thor watched both different couples and felt a measure of satisfaction in his small body. He blinked his large eyes and looked ahead. Soon they would arrive at water-based world of Lantea.

Soon, Atlantis would once again be occupied by her true kind.


End file.
